Party store gives free costumes to families affected by immigration enforcement
By Carlos Granda
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LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Halloween is almost here, and the owner of a local party supply store is trying to make sure kids impacted by ongoing immigration enforcement have costumes.
Halloween is the day to dress up. From funny to scary, kids can pretend their fantasies are real.
This year, for some, the fear is all too real.
“They feel insecure about what is happening,” said Oscar Tellez, who owns Magic Dream Party Rentals in East Los Angeles.
He is providing free Halloween costumes to kids whose families have been impacted by immigration enforcement.
“People who really need a costume. Who is passing through economic problems to get a costume, so I decided to give away 25 costumes to people,” says Tellez.
Tellez says there’s no limit. Any child can come in and pick whatever costume they want. He says they can keep it after Halloween.
But will the community come out for Halloween?
Immigration officials showed up and made an arrest over the weekend during a Halloween parade in Chicago. This has people in SoCal worried.
“With the things going on with ICE, it’s pretty scary. That’s another thing; we might not see a lot of kids out this Halloween because of ICE. You just never know when they could just pop up,” says Juan Isidoro from East Los Angeles, who was in the store to buy a costume.
Tellez has been part of the East L.A. community for more than 30 years.
In the past he has gifted costumes to children through community organizations. He’ll still do that, but he wanted to do more.
“I’m going to ask the people to come to my store, and I’m going to give it directly to them. I think it’s going to feel great!” he added.
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