Council of Mexicans in the Carolinas Condemns Taco Cid T-shirts

The Council of Mexicans in the Carolinas says a West Columbia Mexican restaurant's "How to Catch an Illegal Immigrant" t-shirts are "racist and discriminatory," according to a report in the Free Times. 

Controversy over Taco Cid's anit-illegal immigrant shirts has been raging since the story went national earlier this week. The restaurant posted a statement on its website defending the shirts, saying that they were meant to be "witty and comical."

But Ivan Segura, president of the Council of Mexicans in the Carolinas, says the shirts are highly offensive.

"There's nothing funny about a t-shirt that exploits sensitive stereotypes and uses a language that is offensive for a large segement of our community," Segura wrote in a letter.

But Segura says people who are outraged over Taco Cid's shirts should focus their energy on advocating for immigration reform. 

"Our real struggle should be with those individuals that have the capacity to move immigration reform forward," he said. "Let's use this incident to get fired up and to make sure to aim our efforts in an effective way."