Pittsburgh-area woman says ICE agents detained husband at his business
A woman said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained her husband at his business in Carnegie in May.
"I watched on the camera, and I saw that ICE had came in and they had zip-tied him and took him out," Brittany Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said she had to explain to her four children why their father, Macario Gonzalez-Perez, vanished on his birthday, May 20. It was also their ninth wedding anniversary.
"My dad got kidnapped, and they go by ICE 'cause they aren't very nice," their 6-year-old daughter said.
In 2009, Macario Gonzalez-Perez started a new life in the United States after leaving Guatemala. He opened Alteration World on East Main Street in Carnegie, fell in love with Brittany Gonzalez and had four children.
"It's overwhelming the first four, five days after it happened. I was just quite, somber," Brittany Gonzalez said.
Now, outside the shop in Carnegie, their 6-year-old daughter sells lemonade, with every cup poured in pursuit of his presence.
At the same time, her mom works to keep the business Gonzalez-Perez built from scratch alive.
"A lot of sleepless nights, staying up worrying about him, worrying about if I am going to be able to afford the rent for the store, the house, where the kids are going to be tomorrow," Brittany Gonzalez said.
She said her husband is in ICE detention at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County. He called during KDKA's interview with his wife on Thursday. He agreed to speak with KDKA.
"How are you feeling?" KDKA's Mamie Bah asked.
"I'm feeling little stressful," he said.
Bah followed up, "Do you have residency, a visa? What is your immigration status?"
"I'm in the process, that's what I told them," he said. "I'm in the process for a green card."
Brittany Gonzalez said her husband is not a criminal, and he has an active visa. She said they began the immigration process in 2017. She doesn't understand why he was picked up.
"What do you want to say to people who may say 'you shouldn't come here illegally?'" KDKA's Mami Bah asked Brittany Gonzalez.
"That term, illegally and legally, isn't a term that we use within the immigrant culture. So, to say does he belong here, is he here, is he doing things the right way? Yes," she said.
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