Katy Stegall
News
SAN DIEGO— John Ybarra risked his life last weekend as the Butte County Fire
Department battled one of the worst fires in the county’s history. He is now at risk of deportation.
Ybarra’s parents brought him to America when he was five. They were all
undocumented. He said he did not know his family was different from other
schoolchildren until he was a junior in high school when he was not allowed to go on a school trip out of state.
“I didn’t know I was here illegally,” he said.
On September 5, President Donald Trump rescinded Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals, putting Ybarra and 700,000 others in danger of losing their status. He said
hearing Trump announce the 2012 Obama-era program’s end felt like a punch to the
stomach. DACA made it possible for undocumented children like him to receive a work
permit, driver’s license and higher education opportunities.
Ybarra used this opportunity to attend UC Berkeley and earn a degree in Fire
Management.
Ybarra held a press conference at Cooper College in San Diego and said his career did
not make him a hero. His lawyer disagreed.
Immigration attorney Jasmine Graves has represented Ybarra for six months. Her firm
Littlefield and Associates is working the suit pro-bono because of his valiant spirit, she
said.
“He was beating back those flames with his comrades,” Graves said. “People died, and he
was a hero.”
Protestors, Graves and Congressman Robert King (R-CA) dominated Ybarra’s press
conference. Opinions on DACA were tossed around the stage, stifling Ybarra’s
testimony. Tears came to his eyes in the few moments he spoke. King continuously rolled
his eyes and said Ybarra was holding a façade.
“Your tears will not put out this fire,” he said. “It is time for Dreamers to wake up to
reality.”
Ybarra’s DACA status expires March 2018. He said his uncertain future is terrifying, and
he hopes a solution is found that allows him to stay in America. He has not travelled back
to Mexico since he and his parents left 23 years ago. He does not know his relatives and
speaks little Spanish.
“It’s scary for me,” Ybarra said. “I want to stay here. This country is all I know.”
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