LOCAL ARTIST USES “CAUTION” SIGN OF MEXICAN FAMILY TO STIR REACTION




SAN DIEGO, CA (Friday, August 26, 2005) -In 1990, Caltrans launched a project to post caution signs along specific highways that were being most affected by illegal immigrants crossing the roads. Warning signs reading “Caution Watch For People Crossing Road” were posted along Interstate 5, near Camp Pedleton and immediately across the San Ysidro/Tijuana International Border and Highway 905. The sign was later changed to read CAUTION.

Despite the controversary that CAUTION signs have stirred over time –due to the double meaning people have found in the word CAUTION that stands directly above a dark silouhette of an undeniably Mexican family- you will still see them posted around the highway.

Early this morning a local artist, used these signs to display alternate words that put into perspective the struggle and unfair treatment that the Mexican family (represented in the dark silouhette of the sign) experiences after crossing into the United States.

The CAUTION signs will be covered up with magnetic phrases reading NOW HIRING, NO BENEFITS, FREE MARKET and WANTED, while still displaying the silouhette. The phrases were chosen according to words that fit the description of the treatment and characterization given to undocumented immigrants living in the Unites States.

CAUTION: The signs will be seen in seven different areas posted throughout Interstate 5 and Highway 905.