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Daughter of truck driver killed in wreck with FHP trooper needs visa to attend funeral

'I wanted to apply for a humanitarian visa, but there's no time,' Yeisel Más Dominguez says
Yeisel Más Dominguez discusses the difficulty of trying to obtain a visa to travel to the U.S. on short notice.
Posted at 10:41 PM, Feb 08, 2024
and last updated 2024-02-08 23:07:52-05

Arsenio Mas, the semi-truck driver who died after a crash with Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Zachary Fink will soon be laid to rest.

"I don't know when I'll be able to visit my dad," said Yeisel Más Dominguez, the daughter of Arsenio Mas.

The 34-year-old woman lives in Cuba and said her dad moved away when she was 13, but he died while trying to provide for his family on the island.

"I wanted to apply for a humanitarian visa, but there's no time," Más Dominguez said.

Arsenio Mas, truck driver killed in crash with FHP Trooper Zachary Fink
Arsenio Mas is pictured here on his Facebook page, used with his family's permission.

She's in a race against time as family members work on funeral arrangements.

"It's something you have to do quickly, and it's really hard to do something quickly. It's a bureaucracy. It's a slow-moving process," immigration attorney Richard Hujber, who has an office in Boynton Beach, said.

"When it comes to emergency visas why is it so challenging for her case?" asked WPTV reporter Joel Lopez.

"Because she's from Cuba," Hujber said. "The embassy was closed for five years. They just reopened about a year or so ago, and they're just overwhelmed and backlogged."

Más Dominguez said her brother and aunt live in the Miami-Dade County area and are planning on having her father cremated.

Immigration attorney Richard Hujber speaks with WPTV reporter Joel Lopez about the obstacles of receiving a visa from Cuba.
Immigration attorney Richard Hujber speaks with WPTV reporter Joel Lopez about the obstacles of receiving a visa from Cuba.

"If she were to start the process today, how long do you think it could take for her to finally get a visa?" Lopez asked.

"With a member of Congress involved picking up phones, sending emails, faxes and reaching out, it could be within a week hopefully," Hujber said.

He said he's helped thousands of families in his 25 years in the business and plans to contact Más Dominguez to try and help her say her final goodbyes to her father.

"Let's try to fight this, let's try to file this with the right people, the right connections pulling strings," Hujber said. "There's certainly a possibility."

The Truck Safety Coalition that helps families of truck crash victims is also willing to help the family.

They said they have volunteers that speak Spanish who are available when needed.