South Carolina Mexican restaurant responds to uproar over "illegal immigrant" T-shirts

The Palmetto Public Record broke an immigration story that has gone national.  Taco Cid, a Mexican restaurant in South Carolina, is hawking T-shirts depicting “how to catch an illegal immigrant” — with traps using tacos as bait.

 

Photo courtesy of the Palmetto Public Record

Note that the letters on the shirt are colored with the red, white and green of the Mexican flag.

In response to the controversy, Taco Cid updated its website:  ”Our t-shirts were created as a witty and comical statement regarding ILLEGAL immigrants,” the statement reads. “There are NO racial nor hate remarks towards any specific ethnic group.”

South Carolina has seen an uptick in Mexican migration over the last 20 years.  Last November, a federal court enjoined key provisions of the state's immigration enforcement law, which copied similar laws passed in Arizona, Alabama, and other states.

KJ