“Illegal Alien” Halloween Costume is No Joke to Advocates, “Fantastic” to ALIPAC and FOX

America's Voice Blog

Posted 10/20/09 at 10:42am

“Illegal Alien” Halloween Costume is No Joke to Advocates, “Fantastic” to ALIPAC and FOX

Immigrant advocates are incensed that a number of retailers have decided to sell cartoonish“illegal alien” costumes in their stores this Halloween.

Joshua Hoyt of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights even urged a boycott of stores, according to the Chicago Tribune:

"When a corporation dehumanizes immigrants, the best thing is to stop buying from it," he said.

Target, Toys R Us, Amazon, and Meijer are among those that advertised the orange, Guantanamo-bay styled jumpsuits, complete with an alien mask and a “green card.” The United Farm Workers asked its constituents to take action on their Web site, stating:

These costumes perpetuate racism and discrimination in an already hostile environment and during a period of time when the debate on immigration reform is increasingly hateful and divisive.

Target immediately removed the costume from its Web site when they received complaints from various groups, apologizing for having included it in their assortment:

Target said the "Illegal Alien" costume was inadvertently uploaded to its Web site due to a data entry error. "It is never our intent to offend the consumers with the products we offer," a company statement said.

Toys R Us have also followed suit, pulling the costume from their stores and Web site. However, the makers of the costume, Forum Novelties, have yet to comment on the debacle. And despite the political controversy, according to CNN, the costumes have apparently been a “hit.”

The national anti-immigrant organization ALIPAC, for instance, is stoking the controversy with wild exaggerations about their own popularity.

According to Daniel Tencer of The Raw Story:

"A few hours after the national organization ALIPAC called for supporters to make the controversial illegal alien Halloween costume (pulled off shelves by Target) the 'Most Popular Costume of Halloween 2009,' the item has sold out in all online stores!" ALIPAC, or Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, declared in a press release Monday.

However, RAW STORY has found it can still be purchased through Amazon.com. An item marked "Alien Adult Costume," matching the description of the illegal alien outfit, can be purchased "at an external website," according to the Amazon listing.

So did ALIPAC get customers to pull these costumes off the shelves with their mega-buying power, or did immigrant advocates succeed in getting business to pull the costumes because they were in very poor taste?

Either way, Fox and Friends think these little ditties are simply “fantastic.”

According to Amanda Terkel at Think Progress:

This morning, however, the hosts of Fox and Friends couldn’t get enough of the costume. Steve Doocy exclaimed, “It’s a joke! Where’s your sense of humor America?” Brian Kilmeade called it “fantastic,” adding, “If you’re here illegally, go to your local police station and tell them how outraged you are because you’re an illegal alien and this costume offends you!”

Yes, Brian, because only undocumented immigrants find this costume offensive. That’s exactly why Target and Toys R Us balked and pulled the item.

Teresa Puente of Chicago Now writes:

But there’s also another costume out there called the “Sexy Illegal Alien” selling on Zoogster Costumes. It includes a metallic mini dress with a poncho trimmed with pom-pom fringe, matching sombrero, handcuffs and alien sunglasses. And on Amazon, I found an illegal alien latex mask for sale. It features alien eyes and an exaggerated moustache.

I wouldn’t be surprised if William Gheen, President of ALIPAC, is also encouraging his supporters to get their metallic mini “sexy illegal alien” costumes, before those get pulled, too. After all, they’re just “fantastic!”