Stephany Gauffeny talks to NPR on Sept. 27 about her husband Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez, a sufferer of the Sept. 24 capturing at an Dallas ICE facility.
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán/NPR
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Sergio Martínez-Beltrán/NPR
DALLAS – Stephany Gauffeny rubs her pregnant stomach as she sits on a brown leather-based chair inside a regulation workplace. She’s drained and apprehensive.
Gauffeny can go into labor any time now. But as a substitute of getting ready for this second – the delivery of her fifth baby – she’s anguished about her husband Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez.
He’s on life assist after being critically injured on Wednesday in the capturing at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas. He was being detained there after being arrested on Aug. 8 for driving below the affect. He is within the U.S. with out authorized standing.
“It hurts to suppose like, what if he by no means even will get to fulfill him,” Gauffeny instructed NPR on Saturday, referring to her unborn baby, a son.
That could be very doable.
Gauffeny mentioned that the medical personnel at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas instructed her on Friday night Garcia-Hernandez may not survive the evening. As of Saturday afternoon, machines had been protecting him alive.
One of the issues that shocked her essentially the most when she noticed Garcia-Hernandez within the hospital was how he appeared.
“When I first arrived on the hospital, he was shackled, regardless that he could not transfer,” Gauffeny mentioned. He’s nonetheless unconscious, however as a result of he stays in ICE custody, brokers are controlling entry to his room.
All of that is making it tougher for her to go to her husband, and for his brothers to see him, too.
Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez, one of many victims of the Sept. 24 capturing at a Dallas ICE facility.
Courtesy of Stephany Gauffeny
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Courtesy of Stephany Gauffeny
In addition to Garcia-Hernandez, Venezuelan detainee Jose Andres Bordones-Molina was additionally injured within the capturing. A 3rd was killed, and the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office recognized him as 37-year-old Norlan Guzman Fuentes, from El Salvador.
In a press release to NPR, ICE confirmed the identities of all three victims on Saturday. The company mentioned that each one three had been “prison unlawful aliens.”
The shooter was identified by ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons as Joshua Jahn, a 29-year-old who died of self-inflicted wounds. According to regulation enforcement officers, the person sought to “terrorize” ICE brokers. However, not one of the victims had been regulation enforcement officers. Instead, the entire victims had been detainees, based on the federal government.
‘He’s an excellent dad’
Gauffeny mentioned the federal government’s lengthy delay figuring out the victims is what made her wish to inform the world extra about who her husband is.
“I need his identify to be recognized,” Gauffeny mentioned. “I need individuals to know who he actually was. He wasn’t simply an immigrant or a detainee, or a prison.” She mentioned that she hoped this incident prompted extra safety to be put in at ICE immigration services to guard these inside.
Garcia-Hernandez, 31, is initially from Mexico, and has lived within the U.S. since he was a youngster. He would not have authorized standing, his spouse mentioned, however primarily based on the truth that she was a U.S. citizen, they had been making an attempt to get him everlasting residency.
Stephany Gauffeny and Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez.
Courtesy of Stephany Gauffeny
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Courtesy of Stephany Gauffeny
She instructed NPR Garcia-Hernandez had an excellent humorousness, at all times making individuals snort. He was at all times serving to individuals – from these in want within the streets, to his members of the family and associates. He’d give individuals rides, assist repair their automobiles, assist them with family duties like hanging TVs.
And he at all times apprehensive about his household and took care of her. Even whereas in detention, he would ask her whether or not anybody was serving to her reduce the grass at their new residence.
She mentioned he labored as a home painter earlier than he was detained, and would typically shock her by coming residence from work along with her favourite snacks, together with elotes.
They met once they had been 15 years outdated, and began courting once they had been round 19. They’ve been married for a decade.
And he cherished being a dad, she mentioned. Together they had been elevating 4 youngsters, ages 3, 8, 12, and 14.
“He spoiled them lots … and so they miss him,” Gauffeny mentioned.
Gauffeny has not instructed the youngsters what occurred to Garcia-Hernandez. She’s hoping for her husband to get higher, though she acknowledges that’s practically unimaginable.
The youngsters are noticing her absence – she spends most of her days on the hospital. She’s allowed to go to her husband for a couple of hours within the morning and the night.
And she’s additionally apprehensive about how she’ll present for her youngsters since Garcia-Hernandez was the primary supply of earnings. The household is now counting on a GoFundMe marketing campaign to pay for groceries and payments.
“Before he acquired arrested … he had instructed me, ‘Okay, my subsequent paycheck, you realize, we’re gonna exit and purchase the infant all these things,'” she mentioned. “And, you realize, it by no means occurred.”
