Owner of Lindo Michoacan apologizes to community, continues to back Trump
Javier Barajas Gutierrez’ story starts off like that of many immigrants in the United States who grew up in foreign lands and crossed borders in search for a better life for themselves and their families.
In many ways, Barajas has achieved his American dream since coming to the U.S. from the Mexican state of Michoacan at 16 over 45 years ago.
Today, he is the proud owner of five restaurants in the valley, four of which are the popular Mexican restaurant chain Lindo Michoacan and the most recent addition, Il Toro E La Capra, which made headlines when former president Donald Trump made an appearance to talk about his promise to eliminate taxes on tips.
Over the years, Lindo Michoacan has opened its doors to politicians from Hillary Clinton in 2008 to Kamala Harris in 2019 and most recently President Joe Biden, who shook hands and greeted customers at the original location in July before being diagnosed with COVID-19, prompting him to cancel his appearance at the annual UnidosUS conference held in Las Vegas. Days later, he abandoned his re-election bid.
Barajas has created jobs for over 500 people at his five establishments, and he estimates that 99.9 percent of his employees are Latino. This is a number that he is proud to share.
Perhaps this is why it came as a shock to some when Barajas expressed vehement support for Trump at his restaurant last week.
During his speech, Trump outlined the Mexican immigrant’s beginnings in the culinary business, starting out as a dishwasher, then becoming a chef before opening his first restaurant.
“This guy’s got a lot of cash,” Trump quipped.
The former president then gestured to Barajas to step up to the podium.
“I came here when Ronald Reagan was president, and you know what? I really miss those times,” Barajas said on stage. “I need you to please make America great.”
The Las Vegas Review-Journal en Español posted a clip of the moment that garnered nearly 100 comments from folks disappointed in Barajas support of the former president who has been known to spread anti-immigrant rhetoric and has made disparaging comments towards Latinos.
The consensus among most commenters was the same: they called Barajas’ support of Trump embarrassing and vowed to stop supporting his restaurants. “Wow, having only Latino employees … it’s not fair, no more Lindo Michoacan,” said one user.
Others took a more understanding and supportive approach, “It’s still a free country,” said one.
Carlos Eduardo Espina, a popular political influencer for the Hispanic community made a video criticizing Barajas support of Trump that has since garnered 3.7 million views on TikTok.
Barajas said he has seen the comments and offered an apology to the community.
“I really want to apologize to anyone I offended,” he said in Spanish. “I’m not against anyone.”
“What is regrettable is that no one has done anything for all those families who have been here for years and years and have not been able to fix their immigration status,” Barajas said in a video response to Espina.
In an interview with the Review-Journal en Español at Il Toro E La Capra, Barajas discussed at length his frustration with both political parties’ lack of action on immigration reform, an issue that he holds dear.
Barajas explained that he came to this country undocumented, married a U.S. citizen and was eventually able to bring his parents and siblings to the U.S. as well. Now, while his parents also became citizens, he has siblings, friends and colleagues who have lived in this country for years, anxiously and often disappointingly waiting on a path to citizenship.
During Trump’s visit, Barajas said he spoke to the presidential candidate about the issue, voiced his concerns and even asked him about the negative comments he has made towards Latinos.
“He talks about not wanting illegal immigrants, but what he explained to me … he said: ‘I am not against people who come to work, I am against those who come to commit crimes, those who come to steal and those who come to be evil.’”
Trump acknowledged the value Latinos bring to businesses like Barajas’, he said. “He cares about us, I can see it.”
Barajas said while he believes Democrats are good people, they have left him disillusioned and let down. He criticized Barack Obama’s presidency and said immigrants were worse off back then than they were under Trump. Under Trump’s presidency, Barajas said, there were fewer deportations and the economy was more stable, something that he has felt tremendously as a business owner.
Barajas is correct in citing that more people were deported or removed during each of Obama’s terms than during Trump’s. The Department of Homeland Security recorded 2 million removals between 2017 and 2020 under Trump. According to an analysis by the Migration Policy Institute, there were 3.2 million and 2.1 million removals during each of Obama’s terms, respectively, figures that were widely criticized by immigration advocacy groups.
Under Biden, the number of migrants illegally crossing the border soared to record levels, averaging 2 million per year between 2021 and 2023. This, in turn, has also led to a spike in removals since he took office. That number has plummeted since June when Biden implemented restrictions that would bar anyone from seeking asylum in between ports of entry until average border crossings have fallen below 1,500 for seven consecutive days, according to Politico.
However, while Barajas said that Democrats have a history of not aiding immigration reform during their presidencies, Obama did implement his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, an executive action that opened vast opportunities for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as young children. Trump ended the program in 2017.
More recently, a federal judge in Texas temporarily suspended president Biden’s program, known as “Parole in Place,” which would give legal status to about half a million spouses of U.S. citizens and 50,000 non-citizen children whose parent is married to a citizen, freezing one of the largest presidential actions to ease the path to citizenship in years.
The former president has put immigration at the heart of his campaign, pledging to deport between 15 million to 20 million people living in the U.S. without permanent legal permission by using the National Guard and the military while also calling for more security along the southern border.
Democrats and Republicans alike have taken a rightward approach to immigration this election season, opting to secure the borders before focusing on the immigrants who are already living in the country.
Barajas says that he believes that Trump cares about them and is hopeful that he will help, despite the things he has said in public.
“At least Donald Trump, I don’t know if he will fulfill what he promised … but he told me that the only thing he is against is the criminals, not the working people,” Barajas said.
“I don’t want to tell anyone who they should vote for,” Barajas said. “I believe everyone should vote for whoever they believe will be good for humanity, so that we have jobs, that the economy is good, that housing is not too expensive … and let’s hope that everything works out.”
