Las Guerreras, an Oakland eatery owned by Ofelia Barajas and her daughter Reyna Maldonado, serves colorful, traditional Mexican dishes. Their popular menu includes pescado a la talla and posole verde. Despite their culinary success, the undocumented status of Barajas poses challenges, particularly with the threat of deportation under the Trump administration. Maldonado, protected by DACA, recalls the dangers of her early illegal journey to the U.S. and the family’s history, emphasizing the emotional weight of their story alongside their restaurant's success.
Maldonado recalls the dangers of her journey to the U.S. with her uncle, stating, 'It's a very vivid, like vivid memory of mine. We tried multiple times. We were in the back of a big truck and at one point in a trunk.'
Barajas and her daughter are undocumented, emphasizing their uneasy future amid deportation threats: 'I was never lied to by my parents... about not calling the police because we will all be separated.'
Collection
[
|
...
]