US and Mexican adults and children play on a seesaw that straddles the border wall (Picture: Ronald Rael)

These children prove there are no barriers to friendship as they play together in defiance of Donald Trump’s politics of division.

Children from the US and Mexico spontaneously enjoyed themselves at a seesaw that bridged their two nations.

The wall created a ‘literal fulcrum’ and was designed to show that ‘we are equal and we can play together.’

Architecture professor Ronald Rael, from the University of California, Berkeley, was one half of the team that built the seesaw, also known as a teetertotter.


It straddles the slatted borderwall fence between Sunland Park, New Mexico and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

Children line up to take turns on the striking pink seesaw (Picture: Ronald Rael)

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A woman helps her little girl on the seesaw in Ciudad de Juarez, Mexico (Picture: AP)

Mr Rael said: ‘There are good relations between the people of Mexico and the US and using the seesaw shows we are equal and we can play together and enjoy ourselves.



He added: ‘What happens in one place has an impact in the other. And that’s what the seesaw does, exactly that.’

Families from both sides of the wall showed up to have a turn on the seesaw and a video showed them laughing, talking and engaging with each other.

One particularly striking visual was the large, brown and grey steel barrier which was in stark contrast to the bright pink and joyful seesaw.

The artwork, entitled Teetertotter Wall, comes as US President Trump continues his crackdown on migrants crossing into the US from its southern border.

He has vowed to cut back on immigration which he has referred to as ‘an invasion’ and is actively working to reduce the number of asylum cases.

The seesaw was created by Ronald Rael from the University of California, Berkeley (Picture: Ronald Rael)

The seesaws were enjoyed by young and old across the steel border that divides Mexico and the US (Picture: Ronald Rael)

Children and adults line up for a turn on the seesaw (Picture: AP)

Trump’s presidential campaign saw him take power after vowing to build a ‘big beautiful wall.’

Despite his rhetoric, he has not managed to build a single mile of new border wall since taking office in January 2017.

Last week, the Supreme Court gave the go-ahead for Trump to build a $2.5bn (£2bn) section of wall in the states of Arizona, California and New Mexico.

It came after Trump partially shutdown the government for 35 days at the start of 2019 and even declared a national emergency to try to get money for his wall.

The Trump administration’s treatment of migrants has drawn fire from his critics as people are housed in overcrowded detention centres and children separated from their families.

Many migrants making the perilous journey to the US are fleeing violence in Central America, namely countries such as Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

US Border Patrol says it has made 688,375 southwest border apprehensions since October 2018.

The UN Missing Migrants project reports that 170 migrants have died or are missing on the US-Mexico border so far in 2019 – including 13 children.

Border Patrol figures show that 283 died last year, but human rights activists say the number is likely to be higher.

The Teetertotter Wall was first thought of as an idea by Mr Rael and Virginia San Fratello, an associate professor of design at San Jose State in 2009.