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Yaritza Flores Sanchez puts on her turnout gear at the Monticello Fire Department. She has been with the department since March 27, 2021. Amy Graham-McCarty/News & Review
Yaritza Flores Sanchez dreamt of having a future in the United States.
As a little girl in Tejulpico, Mexico, she would spend her days playing outside her parents’ store. At night, the children would play soccer underneath the streetlight. By the time Flores Sanchez was eight years old, violence was growing in her small town, she says.
It was then that her parents chose to move their children to the U.S. for a better, and safer, future. That decision made Flores Sanchez not just a Dreamer, but a trailblazer. At 23 years old, the Monticello EMT-Paramedic/Firefighter is the first Dreamer to be hired to serve at a fire department in the State of Indiana, something Flores Sanchez is proud of.
“Initially, the area where we were at (in Mexico) was a very small town,” she said. “They were kind of farm people. Then (my parents) decided to move to Tejulpico. It was a small town that was growing during our stay there. It was a very nice place.
“We used to own a store. Where we were at is the place where all the little kids would congregate. Everybody knew everybody. There was a streetlight there also, so it was just the perfect place for us to play soccer and ride our bikes. We were all pretty close.”
Flores Sanchez
Then, she says, the peace of Tejulpico began to give way to violence in the streets.
Coming to the U.S.
“One of my dad’s friends was killed, so I think that was their final push (to leave),” she said. “The general reason was money and the growing violence in the area.
“After we moved (to the U.S.) the area got worse. You couldn’t listen to music at high volume, or you would be asking for trouble. You couldn’t be out past a certain time, because if you were out past a certain time, it meant you weren’t a good person.”
Flores Sanchez’s dream of coming to the U.S. began at an early age.
“I always wanted to come to the U.S. as a child. It was one of my biggest dreams,” she said. “My dad would travel (to the U.S.) and then he would send money back for us. And then, when things started getting pretty rough, the decision was made (to go to the U.S.).
Pictured, front row, front left, are Monticello Fire Chief Galen Logan, Firefighter/Paramedic David Dulin, EMT-Paramedic/Firefighter Yaritza Flores Sanchez; and, back row from left, Firefighter/ Paramedic Student Tyler Miller, Firefighter/Paramedic Student Aaron Miller, Firefighter/Paramedic Chad Walther, and Monticello Fire Department Captain Shane Swaim in the kitchen area of the Monticello Fire Department. Amy Graham-McCarty/News & Review
“We packed our things, sold some things, and visited my grandparents. It was the very last time I saw my grandmother and grandfather on my mom’s side.”
Her family’s journey was not an easy one.
“We just got on the road,” she said, recalling the night she left Mexico with her mother, 14-year-old brother, Isael, and 13-year-old sister, Rosa. “We crossed the Rio Grande. My mom and I were pulled on an inner tube by a Coyote and my brother. I was not strong enough to make it (across the river), and it was the best way for my mom to make sure I was safe. Then the Coyote went back for my sister.”
A Coyote is an individual who smuggles immigrants across the Mexico border into the United States.
Flores Sanchez said she was disoriented by the commotion of the night.
“There was so much going on,” she said. “I just knew that whatever they told me is what I needed to do.
“Everyone was being very serious. It got scary. Just in general I remember I did not know what was going on. I just knew that whatever my mom told me, that is what I needed to do. If she told me to be quiet, I needed to be quiet. If she told me to run, I needed to run. It was a lot of blindly following and trusting that whatever they told me was for the best.”
Conditions did not get easier as they reached the other side of the Rio Grande.
“Once we got across, they told us to start running,” she said. “We crossed a barbwire fence that I got caught on. Everybody kept running and my mom immediately noticed I was not with her. She came back and started tugging on me and I could not get out.
“I was stuck. My brother noticed and he comes and yanks me, and that is finally what frees my pants, and we start running again.”
They ran to a van that was waiting for them. The van took them to Texas, where they stayed for a few weeks, she says.
“When the transaction was finished, we made our way to Indiana, to Lafayette, to my aunt’s,” she said.
After living with her aunt for a while, Flores Sanchez says her parents rented a home and eventually became homeowners. Everyone worked, she says.
Becoming a Dreamer
“We were a close family,” she said. “Then when I was 12, my dad got deported, and my sister and brother helped to take care of the family. We became very close after that.”
It would be her sister who would help the family apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA. The recipients of DACA are young people who have grown up as Americans. Many DACA applicants may speak only English and came to the U.S. when they were so young that they could not make an informed decision about their passage. Under current immigration law, most of these young people have no way to gain legal residency, even though they have lived in the U.S. most of their lives. Former President Barack Obama issued the DACA executive order after the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act did not pass in Congress. The young people impacted by DACA, and the DREAM Act, are often referred to as “Dreamers.”
Flores Sanchez and both of her siblings have been approved for the DACA program. Their approvals are for two-year periods, at which time they must apply for renewal.
“There were moments when we were really scared because (the U.S. government) said they weren’t going to renew (DACA) anymore, and it was like a ‘Well what am I going to do now’ kind of thing,” Flores Sanchez said. “That is the thing about it, you just never know what is going to happen to you. You are constantly walking on eggshells, wondering what your future is going to be.
“I remember the first time they said they were not going to renew it. I was in Ivy Tech. I just sat down and was like ‘What is going to become of me. I can’t legally work, and if I study, what’s it going to be for? I’m going to need a (social security card) to get a job.’
Just lots of turmoil.”
Fortunately, the DACA program remains active, and with it a bright future for Flores Sanchez.
“I would not have been able to do this without the DACA program,” she said. “I have no clue what I would have done.”
Through the DACA program, she has a social security number. She pays taxes and is supporting the country she calls home. She is vigilant, though, that it could all go away at a moment’s notice.
Into the fire
Flores Sanchez says she doesn’t recall what sparked her interest in the medical field, but she can’t imagine doing anything else.
“I went to Jefferson in Lafayette. That is where I got my EMT certification from,” she said “I graduated early when I was 16.
“I wanted to take their firefighter class because I had room in my schedule and wanted to do something to fill the space.”
Requirements for the program would keep Flores Sanchez from earning a spot in the class. She had to weigh 100 pounds; she weighed 104. She had to be 17 years old, she was only 15 years old when trying to enroll in the program.
“I saw that they had a CNA class that my friend was in, so I signed up for that instead,” she said. “My friend was talking about the class, and she told me the EMT class was a lot better because they get to do a lot of other cool stuff.
“I knew I wanted to do something medical-related, but I wasn’t entirely sure what. My grandmother had died of skin cancer a couple of years earlier, so that made me think maybe I would want to do something medical. I didn’t even know what an EMT was at the time. I went into the class, and I didn’t know what it was or what I was going to do.”
She finished the EMT class and passed her course work but could not test for certification until she was 18 “ years old; she was only 16 years old.
“By the time I turned 18 I just didn’t feel very confident in passing the test,” she recalled. “But I remember I missed it. I missed being in the ambulance. I was studying business at Ivy Tech at that point.
“I would see the ambulances, and all my friends that had taken the class were working. And I was like, ‘You know what, I really miss it.’ One of my other friends said, ‘Hey you should come work with me at this place, it is really great. You should take the test; you will be fine.’ So, he convinces me, and I set up my test.”
At the time, Flores Sanchez was a full-time student, was working, and needed to prepare for her Ivy Tech finals. Three days before her EMT certification test she opened the book and tried to read as much as she could.
“I remember thinking I need to study; I need to pass this. I sat down with my book and read as much as possible,” she said.
She passed her certification and worked on an ambulance transport service for two years.
“A co-worker suggested I look at Monticello so I could sit in on some classes and get my skills signed off on,” she said. “I remember coming to Monticello when I was working transport and thinking ‘It would be really cool to work there.’”
A dream comes true
The Monticello Fire Department offered her a PRN (as needed) position working as an EMT.
“Then it escalated from there,” she said, smiling. “I worked PRN for a little over a year, and then part-time, and eventually the Chief asked me if I would like to apply here full-time.
“I was like, ‘Ya, but I can’t.’”
A question on the city employment application nearly kept Flores Sanchez from realizing her dream.
“The application says that you are required to be a citizen, and I am not,” she told Monticello Fire Chief Galen Logan. “At this point, they didn’t know my legal status and I didn’t talk about it much either.
“It just sucks, because at times you have people ask you ‘What’s your citizenship?’ I’ve had patients ask me, and (I think), does that really matter in me taking care of you? I’ve also had people treat me differently, or make certain jokes, just things that are off-putting, so I didn’t talk about it.”
When applying for PRN work, Flores Sanchez had turned in her work employment authorization card and the necessary documents she needed, but full-time employment had different requirements. She soon found her new bosses were on her side.
“They were wondering where the requirement for citizenship came from,” she said. “My best guess is that it had something to do with a pension, and that’s what I told them. They were gracious enough to start looking around.
“They started asking ‘Is this a city requirement; is this a pension requirement?’ I remember them going through everything and trying to figure out where in the world is this requirement coming from; why is it there?”
As it would turn out, there was nothing that specifically required Flores Sanchez to be a U.S. citizen to work for the City of Monticello.
“They had me turn in an application for a full-time spot, even though we weren’t sure what was happening with me,” she said. “A couple of months later they were like, ‘We are going to hire you and if anything goes wrong, we will figure it out along the way.’”
And figure it out they did. Monticello Mayor Cathy Gross said when the matter was brought to her attention, and she realized the only way to grant employment to Flores Sanchez and those that come after her was to strike that question from the employment application, she did just that.
“After talking to the State Fire Marshall and the State Pension Board, we found out the only thing stopping her from being hired, was a question on our application that said, ‘Are you a U.S. citizen?’ So, we got rid of that,” Gross said matter-of-factly. “She was paying her fair share of taxes, even though as a citizen she may never get to receive benefits.
“She is proudly representing the City of Monticello Fire Department and with any luck, within the next year, she will be able to travel with me to Washington, D.C. as we work with the National League of Cities to create a pathway to citizenship for these Dreamers that want to serve their communities. I am so honored and proud that I am able to be a part of this, and I hope we will be able to see change.”
Certified EMT-Paramedic/ Firefighter
Today, Flores Sanchez is a certified EMT-Paramedic/Firefighter. She began her full-time position on March 27, 2021. The obstacles she has faced growing up have prepared her for her career, she says.
“Running into fire, it’s scary for sure. I am a very small person compared to the rest of the guys,” she said. “I’ve come a long way since I started when it comes to strength.
“I want to be able to do my job, and I want to be able to do it right.”
Being the first Dreamer to be hired as a full-time EMT Paramedic Firefighter in the State of Indiana is something that Flores Sanchez does not take lightly, and it is something she says she is very proud of.
“It makes me more aware of everything,” she said. “I know that this may be the last time that I am here. I may not get to do this again.
“When I am at a fire or a medical scene, I’m not thinking of what I’ve been through. It is about how can I help people. See the person, don’t disregard them because of their circumstances. You may be the only one to make a difference and show compassion.”
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