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A French artist has erected a 20-metre-tall photo of a toddler peering over the US-Mexico border wall in the same week President Donald Trump scrapped an immigration program protecting young people illegally brought to the US as children.
The artist, who goes by the moniker JR, said the portrait of one-year-old Kikito, who lives in the border town of Tecate, was spurred by a dream in which he imagined a kid looking over the wall.
"And when I woke up, I wondered: 'What was he thinking?'" he said.
"For us we know the implication, what it represents, how it divides. But for a kid, I didn't have the answer."
In the photo, the boy appears to grip the barrier with his fingers, leaving the impression the entire thing could be toppled with a giggle.
The artwork went up the same week Mr Trump said he would end a program that has allowed young immigrants brought to America illegally as children to remain in the country and provided them with a pathway to citizenship.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, also known as Dreamers, was put in place by former president Barack Obama.
But Mr Trump has ordered a phased-out dismantling that gives a gridlocked Congress six months to decide the immigrants' fate.
The Trump administration also accepted more proposals for its plans to build a continuous wall along the approximately 3,200-kilometre border.
But JR said he had not intended the project coincide with the news about the young immigrants program.
Instead, he said it is part of his long-term work to highlight the "Ellis Islands of today," which has taken him from the shores of Italy where migrants have been arriving by boat from Africa to the California desert.
"Now as an artist I think that it's amazing that the piece arrived at a moment when it creates more dialogue," he said. "Because the idea itself is to raise more questions."
JR has done other large-scale portraits around the world, with much of his recent work focused on immigrants and refugees.
Photo: This is the view of Kikito from the southern side of the US-Mexico border. (Twitter: @JRart)
'Larger than life'
On Friday, a steady stream of people drove to the remote section of wall near the Tecate border crossing, about 64 kilometres southeast of San Diego.
Border Patrol agents warned visitors to keep the dirt road clear for their patrols and not pass anything through the fence.
Edmond Davantes, a software developer from Carlsbad, California, took photos from the US side.
"It's larger than life," he said. "It just draws attention to the whole issue in a positive way."
On the Mexican side, families scrambled down a scrubby hillside to take selfies with the artwork. Children in school uniforms played tag under the scaffolding holding the photo.
People on each side of the wall waved to each other.
Salma Montoya, 18, took a bus to Tecate to see it. She said the town is abuzz about the artwork. "It's beautiful," she said.
For artists and activists, the 1,000 kilometres of existing wall and fencing between the US and Mexico has long been a blank canvas.
Musicians have played simultaneously on both sides. A giant wooden Trojan-style horse was once parked near a crossing in Tijuana. There have been volleyball games and church services held simultaneously on each side of the border.
Sections of wall on the Mexican side are painted with everything from butterflies to an upside-down American flag.
The latest piece will remain in Tecate for a month. JR hopes people will view it from each side.
AP
