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The story quickly took off on Friday evening, drawing coverage in national news media outlets. Angry reactions flooded the school’s Facebook page. And social media responses were harsh.

“The fact that these elementary school teachers thought this would be OK demonstrates how much more cultural competence training is needed in education,” Kevin Nadal, a psychology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, wrote on Twitter.

Middleton said that he had been alerted to the issue by a parent who expressed concern over the costumes and that he has since opened a district investigation into the matter.

“I was shown those photos and deeply troubled by the decision by our staff members to wear those costumes that are clearly insensitive and inappropriate,” he said. “Right now our time is going to be devoted to investigating those events and those poor decisions that were made.”

According to the Idaho Statesman, the photos were originally posted on the Middleton School District’s Facebook page with a caption reading, “It was a great day to be a Heights Hawk! We celebrated our RESPECT character winners, single and double marathon runners.”

The Halloween incident is another data entry in the long list of controversial, racially insensitive or historically ignorant costumes that inevitably get trotted out every year. But this incident also struck at the heart of an emotional political debate over immigration that has only grown more bitter in recent days in the lead-up to Tuesday’s elections, as President Donald Trump has warned of an immigrant “invasion” and released a misleading ad about immigrants that was widely criticized as racist.