NAU responds to outrage after students' controversial Halloween costumes go viral

Northern Arizona University responded to backlash after a photo of a group of students wearing Halloween costumes depicting immigrants and homeless people went viral on Twitter.

The tweet, posted Monday night, has screenshots of the group with dirty faces and holding cardboard signs that say, "Immigrant mother of 10 -- anything helps!!" "veteran and have prostate cancer, god bless," "16 and pregnant, will work 4 [sic] food," "recovering alcoholic, need $$ 4 A.A.," and "hungry college dropout."

The tweet amassed 8,700 retweets and 20,400 likes within four days and sparked wide outrage.

NAU's president, Rita Cheng, released a statement via Twitter on Halloween, saying the students have apologized for their actions, but the Dean of Students and Office Inclusion has been notified.

It's unclear to FOX 10 if the situation is under investigation by the university.