Linda Mendoza was opening her beauty salon in East Oakland, California, when a gunman pointed a gun at her pregnant belly and demanded cash. Mendoza, who had been brought to the US at age four and was undocumented, called the police after her assailant fled, ignoring objections of friends and family who worried that by drawing attention to herself she risked deportation. Because Mendoza came forward, police were able to prosecute and arrest the perpetrator and his accomplice who were responsible for a string of robberies in her neighborhood.