Three sisters in Big Bear Lake are bracing for the unimaginable — losing both parents.
The girls’ mother has been battling Stage 4 brain cancer and is in hospice with only a short time left to live.
And now, their 49-year-old father, Armando Gonzalez, a local handyman, is facing the threat of deportation after he was detained by federal immigration agents in Big Bear Lake this week.
The Gonzalez sisters could not immediately be reached for comment, but they’ve explained their predicament on the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe where they are trying to raise money to provide legal assistance to their father so that he can be home with his wife.
“These last few months with her are precious, and we are terrified that his detention will prevent him from being by her side during this incredibly difficult time,” the sisters wrote on the site.
In an interview with Big Bear Television, two of the sisters, Adriana Gonzalez, 20, and Citlalli Montes, 26, said federal immigration agents detained their father on Big Bear Boulevard shortly before 8 a.m. on Tuesday.
Adriana Gonzalez said she was asleep when she got the call that her father was being detained, prompting her to storm out of the house without shoes.
She said her father’s truck was left abandoned and that he was nowhere to be found.
The sisters told ABC7-TV that their father, who works as a handyman and house cleaner, is being held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, which has been under scrutiny from lawmakers, immigrant rights organizations and the Mexican government amid allegations of inhumane conditions and mistreatment and death of immigrants.
At least four Mexican nationals have died at the detention center.
The sisters believe their father did not have a final removal order or a warrant for his arrest and that he was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.
In an email response to The Times, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Gonzalez was a “criminal illegal alien from Mexico convicted of public order crimes.”
They said he entered the U.S. at an unknown date and will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of his removal proceedings.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.” the statement read, referring to Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin.
San Bernardino County court records show that Armando Gonzalez was charged in April 2011 with operating a vehicle without a valid driver license, which was treated as an infraction.
He was also charged with improperly displaying a license plate, which was later dismissed.
Gonzalez pleaded guilty that July to the first offense and paid a fine of more than $400, records show.
In the interview with Big Bear Television, the sisters said their parents were longtime community members of Big Bear Lake.
They said their mother, Erika, often volunteered at school functions and would go out of her way to help anyone in need, including raising money.
They said their mother is having a hard time communicating and that her memory is drifting in and out.
“That’s why my dad is so significant for us because he helps,” Adriana Gonzalez said. “You can’t go through it alone; you need a team.”
“And now, not only are we losing our mom, but our dad’s gone,” the sisters said, crying.
