A Halloween display outside the home of Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch is drawing criticism on social media for depicting skeletons dressed as immigration officers chasing others wearing stereotypical Hispanic attire.
The display, set up in front of the sheriff’s residence, features two skeletons wearing sombreros and ponchos attempting to climb a fence, while three skeletons in T-shirts labeled “ICE” appear to pursue them. ICE stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A photo of the scene began circulating Tuesday after neighbor Whitney Newman of Mobile County posted it to Facebook, calling it offensive and inappropriate — particularly given Burch’s role as an elected law enforcement official.
“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 wrote. “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,” she said.
Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch talks to the media about the shooting of a 2-year-old child in Prichard during a news conference on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, at his office in Mobile, Ala.John Sharp
The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment and referred all media inquiries to a statement from the sheriff’s wife, Michelle Burch.
In a written statement, Michelle Burch said she was solely responsible for the decorations, describing them as “tongue-in-cheek” and part of a series of themed displays she creates annually for Halloween.
“My husband had nothing to do with these, other than mowing the grass around them,” she wrote. “I made this one, playing both on my Cuban background and new, needed changes in federal immigration enforcement.”
Burch said she decorates for Halloween and other holidays every year and frequently rotates themes. “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,” she added.
The Facebook post sparked strong reactions, with many commenters calling the display “disgusting” and accusing the sheriff of bigotry.
The controversy comes just a week after video surfaced of a Mobile County sheriff’s deputy striking a man during an immigration enforcement operation. Sheriff Burch defended the deputy’s actions, saying the man was resisting arrest.
The man, identified as Henry Castilo, was seen in a neon work vest being hit in the face while being restrained by two deputies during a joint operation with ICE. He was charged with resisting arrest and attempting to elude officers. Several others were also arrested and charged with resisting arrest.
Immigration advocates have criticized such operations as racially motivated, arguing that deputies often target work vans and Latino workers under the assumption that they may be undocumented.
When asked by AL.com if people of non-Hispanic backgrounds have also been arrested in these operations, Burch responded, “I really couldn’t tell you, I don’t keep up with each and every stat,” though he noted one instance involving a Russian individual.
Mobile and neighboring Baldwin County are part of the federal 287(g) program, which allows sheriff’s deputies to perform certain immigration enforcement duties in partnership with ICE. The program has faced ongoing scrutiny from civil rights groups who argue it leads to racial profiling and erodes trust in law enforcement.
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