Big Bear sisters face unexpected loss after father is detained by ICE while mom loses cancer battle
By Zach Boetto
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California (KCAL, KCBS) — Two sisters in Big Bear are facing one of the toughest moments in their lives. Their mom is in hospice care, battling stage 4 brain cancer, and their dad was arrested this week by ICE.
Citlalli Montes and Adriana Gonzalez are doing everything they can to get their father home to them and their mother.
“We said good night, and the next thing, we woke up, and he was gone,” Gonzalez said of her father, Armando Gonzalez Procopio. “I wish my dad could just give us a hug, and we could be sitting with my mom, enjoying our last few moments.”
When the sisters arrived at the location where their father was arrested off Big Bear Boulevard, only his truck remained; Armando was gone. Now they are caring for their mother in hospice, alone.
“I never thought this would be me. I don’t wish this on anyone,” Gonzales said.
The sisters say their dad came to the U.S. at 18 years old, and with their mother, raised the girls in Big Bear. During the pandemic, their mom was diagnosed with brain cancer.
“We were already processing, like, her loss, and we were not going to have her much longer. And now with our dad gone, it’s just like another shot. Our heart is broken again,” Montes said.
The Department of Homeland Security said on March 31, ICE arrested Armando Gonzalez Procopio, who had been “convicted of public order crimes,” and illegally entered the U.S. “He will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of his removal proceedings,” ICE said in a statement.
While the sisters say their dad has no criminal record, CBS LA found traffic violations, including driving with a suspended license.
“Growing up, he’s never been charged with anything, that I know of,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve never heard him have any problems. We’d always joke around, ‘Hey dad, you talk too much,’ because he was such a quiet guy.”
Now the sisters are hoping to get, what they say, is their quiet, funny, hardworking and loving dad back home, so they can be a family again for their mother’s final days.
“They’ve taught me everything I know, and without them I feel like I lose myself. And I can’t imagine planning a funeral without my dad,” Gonzalez said.
They say their father is expected to go before a judge on April 10.
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