'Illegal Alien' Halloween Costume Still Selling at Shops, Despite -- and Because of -- Controversy

Oct. 31, 2009— -- Here's a possible candidate for most offensive Halloween costume this year: the illegal alien.

Civil rights and anti-discrimination activists are up in arms over the "Illegal Alien Adult Costume," manufactured by Forum Novelties.

The costume includes an outer space alien mask, an orange jumpsuit with the words "Illegal Alien" across the chest and a fake green card.

After receiving complaints about the costume, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles wrote a letter to retailers asking them to stop selling the item. Executive director Angelica Salas called it "distasteful, mean-spirited, and ignorant of social stigmas and current debate on immigration reform," according to The Associated Press.

Some retailers, such as Target, have stopped selling the costume.

"This costume was previously available online at Target.com -- the illegal alien costume was never available in our physical stores. It's a costume that we removed about two weeks ago. As a result of after receiving a couple of concerned phone calls from our guests," said Joshua Thomas, a spokesman for Target.

"We apologize, it was not meant to be part of our original assortment, and as soon as we were made aware of the fact that it was available for sale on our Web site, we removed it," Thomas said.

But some retailers are selling the costume anyways.

While a spokesperson from Hollywoodexpress.com says they do not sell the illegal alien costume, but they do carry the "Illegal Alien Mask," which is described as an "almond-eyed, latex, UFO-look[ing] alien with large black mustache and baseball cap attached."

"As for whether or not this particular mask is 'offensive,' I suppose it depends on your point of view. The reality is we carry all sorts of costumes which some people may view to be 'offensive,'" Brad Butler, spokesman for Hollywoodexpress.com, wrote ABCNews.com in an e-mail. He used as an example the "Barakula" mask, a latex mask combining President Obama with a dracula.