A North Texas woman says she received a letter stating that her late husband’s immigration application had been approved—months after he was killed during a shooting at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas.
The approval notice, dated December 9 and addressed to Miguel Garcia, indicated he was authorized to move forward in the process of obtaining legal status in the United States, according to NBC News.
The Context
Garcia, a 31-year-old Mexican national who lived in the Dallas area, was detained after an August arrest on a driving while intoxicated charge. In late September, while he was being processed at the Dallas ICE field office, a gunman opened fire from a nearby rooftop in what federal authorities described as a sniper attack targeting ICE agents. Garcia and one other detainee were killed, and the suspected shooter died by suicide at the scene.
What to Know
Stephany Gauffeny, Garcia’s widow, told NBC News that receiving the letter intensified her grief as she continues raising their children. She said she did not expect any update on the case and became overwhelmed when she opened the notice.
“It was under his name, and I had no idea what it was, opened it and instantly started crying because the first thing you see is, ‘You’ve been approved,’” Gauffeny said.
According to NBC News, the couple had waited for years for movement on Garcia’s immigration case, hoping it would bring stability and reduce the fear of deportation. The approval would have allowed Garcia to take the next steps toward a visa or lawful permanent residency—progress the family believed would let them live with greater security.
NBC News also reported that Gauffeny gave birth to the couple’s fifth child after Garcia’s death.
Gauffeny questioned why USCIS issued the approval after her husband had died and described the timing—during the holiday season—as especially painful.
“It’s right before Christmas time, and it’s hurtful because if he would have been here, it would have been the total opposite,” she said. “It would have been a moment of happiness.”
A senior Department of Homeland Security official previously told Newsweek that Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez was an undocumented immigrant from Mexico with a criminal record that included convictions for providing false information, evading arrest, driving while intoxicated, and fleeing law enforcement.
What People Are Saying
Stephany Gauffeny told NBC News: “Everything’s a reminder. The baby’s a reminder.”
“The grief is always going to be there. It’s never going to be the same as it was.”
