One of his more well-known projects is a series of satire images addressing American Apparel’s use of a farm worker in one of their ads in the summer of 2011.
After being advised by the doctor that a return to Mexico would result in his sister's death, Salgado’s family decided to remain in the United States.
Salgado attended David Starr Jordan High School in Long Beach, California and graduated from the class of 2001.
[5] During his high school and college years, afraid of insults and rejection, he maintained his queer identity hidden and only felt safe revealing his undocumented status since many of those around him faced the same struggle.
In 2010, a group of undocumented students protested in front of the Hart Senate Building in Washington, D.C., demanding the passage of the Federal DREAM Act.
Julio’s activist role emerged after coming across the photograph in the Washington Post of Diana Yael Martinez, an undocumented student who was being arrested after refusing to leave the sit-in at the senate building.
Although Julio's use of art began as a refuge that saved him from his hardships,[8] DREAM Act activists soon found themselves using them as weapons for rallies and campaigns.
The ad features a young white female model linking arms with a dark-skinned Latino farm worker.
The ad identifies the models as “Robin a USC student, studying Public Relations, with Raul, a California farmer in Denim and Chambray.” In an interview with ColorLines Salgado expressed his reaction: “My first thought was, this is so unrealistic….
[4] In 2010 Salgado along with four friends – Jesus Iñiguez, Fernando Romero, and Deisy Hernandez – launched the nationwide media project DREAMers Adrift.
The images in this collection demand the anti-immigrant discourse in mainstream media to humanize the language and treatment aimed towards undocumented youth.