Los Angeles ? The government had started deportation proceedings in 1996 against the Egyptian immigrant who gunned down two people at Los Angeles International Airport. But the following year, the man gained U.S. residency because his wife received a valid visa, officials said Saturday.

It wasn’t clear what caused the Immigration and Naturalization Service to reject Hesham Mohamed Hadayet’s first petition for residency and begin the deportation process, INS spokesman Francisco Arcaute said.

In 1997, Hadayet was granted permanent resident status because his wife, Hala, had become a permanent resident, Arcaute said. The INS allows foreign nationals to work and live in the United States if they have a relative who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.