The wife of a sheriff in Alabama has taken responsibility after local outrage over an ICE-themed Halloween display at their home.
A photo of the front yard of Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch’s house surfaced online Tuesday, showing skeletons dressed as ICE agents appearing to chase skeletons dressed in stereotypical Hispanic attire–including sombreros and serapes–who are jumping over the fence.
It is unclear when the decorations were erected, but the controversy comes just days before the annual Mobile Latin Fest this Saturday, which celebrates “the growing Latin population in our region.”
The picture was shared by neighbor Whitney Newman on her Facebook page, and images of the display are gaining traction in social media posts online.
Newman pointed out the inappropriate nature of the decorations, given Burch’s role as an elected law enforcement official.
Newman said on her social media that she could not “in good conscience, stand by and watch this happen” in her neighborhood.
“It’s hard to put into words how disappointing it is to see our elected sheriff use his own front yard to mock and dehumanize a group of people,” Newman said. “I don’t think it’s cute or funny. And coming from a law enforcement official makes it exponentially worse. This crosses a line from tasteless joke into a public statement about who deserves dignity.”
Newman included a quote from Burch on Mobile’s Team Sheriff Facebook page which reads, “All citizens of Mobile County deserve to live in a safe community, without fear. At the MCSO, we will work tirelessly towards this goal.”
“I just wish our sheriff would practice what he preaches instead of parading racism in his front yard,” she added. “We deserve better from our leaders.”
Newman had no further comment when contacted by the Daily Beast.
Replies on her Facebook post said the decorations were “blatant bigotry,” “disgusting” and “deplorable.”
The sheriff’s wife, Michelle Alfonso Burch, took responsibility for the Halloween decorations in a statement to WKRG5 on Tuesday, claiming they were “tongue-in-cheek.” Burch, who has Cuban heritage, said she will replace the controversial display.
“Every year, I make tongue-in-cheek Halloween decorations with a topical theme at my home,” she said. “My husband has nothing to do with these, other than mowing the grass around them.”
“I made this one, playing both on my Cuban background and new, needed changes in federal immigration enforcement. My parents were legal immigrants, and I have plenty of immigrants throughout my family. I’ll make a new one shortly–we have no shortage of topics to cover.”
The Daily Beast has contacted Burch’s office for comment.
The outrage comes amid sweeping immigration raids on U.S. cities. The Department of Homeland Security revealed last month that 400,000 non-citizens have been deported since January, and 1.6 million people have self-deported.
Last week, Burch defended his deputies striking a man as he was resisting arrest and fighting officers during an immigration operation.
Footage of the man, who Burch identified as Henry Castilo, showed him being hit in the face while being restrained by two deputies as part of a joint operation with ICE.
When questioned if people of non-Hispanic backgrounds were arrested in the raids conducted with ICE, Burch told AL.com, “I really couldn’t tell you, I don’t keep up with each and every stat.”
While Burch has yet to comment directly on the Halloween decorations, he told NBC15 News on Monday that he was not aware of any ICE operations preparing to target citizens attending Latin Fest.
“They are targeting individuals with criminal backgrounds,” Burch said. “Occasionally, there are collateral individuals, who just happen to be there when they arrest the person they’re targeted. But I’m not aware of any operations targeting the festival or anything surrounding the festival.”
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