Dora the Explorer branded 'Dora the Illegal Immigrant' by anti-immigration activists

London, May 22 (ANI): Campaigners are using soft-power to fight Arizona's controversial anti-immigration law. They have appointed Nickelodeon's endearing Spanish-speaking cartoon character 'Dora the Explorer' as their ambassador.

Doctored pictures show the cherubic Dora in a police mugshot with a nasty black eye, a bloody nose and bleeding lip. She is holding a board that says, "Illegal Border Crossing".

According to The Telegraph, one picture circulating on Facebook shows an ad for a TV show called "Dora the Illegal Immigrant."

On the Facebook page "Dora the Explorer is soo an Illegal Immigrant," there are several images showing her sailing through the air over the U.S.-Mexican border.

Many of the Dora images assume the Latina character is an illegal immigrant from Mexico.

Representatives from Nickelodeon declined to comment on Dora's background, and her place of birth or citizenship have never been clear, the paper reports.

She has olive skin, dark hair and speaks Spanish with an American accent.She's always been ambiguously constructed," said Angharad Valdivia, who teaches media studies at the University of Illinois and has explored the issue.

"In the U.S. the way we understand race is about putting people in categories and we're uncomfortable with people we can't put into categories," he added. (ANI)