Artist who drew sign to protect immigrants reflects on lives saved

This man is the artist who designed the sign that shows an immigrant family darting across a highway. It warns drivers to be aware of these people and has saved many lives since 1990 when the signs were first put up. DP

John Hood's drawing, which went up on signs near border areas in 1990, has become an iconic image of the U.S. immigration problem

By SCOTT GOLD, Los Angeles Times

montereyherald.com: On the fifth floor of Building Two of the state Department of Transportation's San Diego compound, a bear of a man with a quiet voice sits in a cubicle straight out of "Dilbert."

He is surrounded by blueprints of overpasses and trucking lanes. There are photos of his son, training seminar certificates, cups of Jell-O and bottles of Tabasco, the remnants of 27 years at the same job, 27 years of eating lunch at his desk, 27 years of unremarkable government bureaucracy — with one notable exception.

"Here it is," says John Hood, rifling through a portfolio. The drawing he pulls out was done as a prototype; it is crude and a bit frayed. But its characters, captured in silhouette, are instantly recognizable.

There is a father, leading the way with a clear sense of urgency, bent at the waist. A mother, running behind him, despite the prim dress that hugs her knees. A little girl, holding her mother's hand, unable to keep pace, her feet barely touching the ground, her pigtails — everyone knows the pigtails — flowing behind.

In 1990, the image was projected onto black vinyl, traced with a knife blade, glued onto yellow signs, topped with one word — CAUTION — and placed on the shoulders of freeways, mostly along Interstate 5 north of the Mexican border.

The sign served as a warning that drivers could encounter people racing across the Interstate — most of them trying to get from Mexico into the United States. It would become one of the most iconic and enduring images associated with the nation's war over illegal immigration. And it would leave John Hood, now 59 and preparing to retire, conflicted and ambivalent about his strange legacy.
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