Tijuana Artists Transform Border Wall into Symbol of Unity Amid Growing Tensions

A new mural titled “Abrazo Mutuo” (or “The Mutual Hug”) is taking shape along the U.S.-Mexico border wall at Friendship Park in Tijuana. Created by local students, community artists, and deported individuals, the project aims to foster solidarity and resilience during a time of heightened anxiety among Latiné and immigrant communities.

Unveiled on July 19, the mural features an eagle and a condor flying side by side, imagery inspired by the “Eagle and the Condor” prophecy, an Indigenous teaching shared among many Native nations in the Americas. The prophecy envisions a future in which the peoples of North and South America reunite in peace and balance.

“In this time of division, I think we, as Latin Americans and as people around the world, should unite,” said artist Alfredo “Libre” Gutierrez in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “Our message is a message of unity and love and just of embrace.. If your neighbor is acting all rude and aggressive, let’s contrast that. Let’s answer that attitude with love and with just a piece of art. We’re just like grabbing it, making it ours and putting some love to it.”

The mural is a collaboration between students of arts and architecture, local volunteers, and artists like Gutierrez and Javier Salazar, also known as “Deported Artist” Salazar, who was brought to the U.S. as an infant and deported at age 35, has spent the last 11 years rebuilding his life in Tijuana.

“It was hard,” Salazar told the Times. “Right away, my accent would give me away. You know, as much as I tried to fit in, as soon as I began talking, they could tell I spent most of my life over there. But now that I’ve been out here, I’ve embraced it. And that’s why I call myself ‘Deported Artist.’ To give our deported people out here a little bit of visibility because oftentimes we’re out of sight, out of mind. Once we’re deported, people just forget about us.”

The mural project is supported by Mozaik Philanthropy and Friends of Friendship Park, a binational advocacy group that promotes access to the cross-border meeting place. For participants, the project is a form of resistance and an invitation to reimagine the border not as a wall, but as a canvas for connection.

As political rhetoric around immigration intensifies, “Abrazo Mutuo” offers a striking counter-narrative, one rooted in shared humanity.