CHELMSFORD — Marcelo Gomes da Silva, the 18-year-old Milford High School senior arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Saturday while driving to volleyball practice, was released Thursday from a federal detention facility in Burlington on a $2,000 bond.
“This kid is as clean as a whistle,” his attorney Robin Nice told reporters outside immigration court in Chelmsford. Adding, “This shouldn’t have happened in the first place. This is all a waste. We disrupted a kid’s life. We just disrupted a community’s life. These kids should be celebrating graduation and prom, I assume? They should be doing kid stuff, and it is a travesty and a waste of our judicial process to have to go through this.”
Born in Brazil, Gomes da Silva entered the United States at age 7. He was arrested after ICE agents, reportedly searching for his father, stopped him while he was driving a car registered to his father and parked in a friend’s driveway, Boston.com reported. Although not the target of the operation, ICE confirmed that Gomes da Silva was found to be undocumented and subject to removal proceedings.
“Like any local law enforcement officer, if you encounter someone with a warrant or [who is] here illegally, we will take action,” Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said earlier this week.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, said agents were seeking a “known public safety threat” and claimed Gomes da Silva’s father has a history of reckless driving “at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour through residential areas.”
But supporters say Gomes da Silva has deep roots in his community. He is a member of the school marching band, plays in his church’s music group, and had planned on playing in the band during his high school graduation ceremony. During his six-day detention, he said he was confined to a crowded, windowless room, denied a shower, and was given only crackers to eat some days.
During the press conference, Gomes da Silva wore a bracelet fashioned from the thin metallic blanket he had been given to sleep on the concrete floor, according to Boston.com.
“I’ll always remember this place,” Gomes da Silva said. “I’ll always remember how it was.”
Nice said he was confined in a space with 25 to 35 men, many twice his age, and was denied access to a Bible when he asked for one.
Gomes da Silva, who said he was the only English-speaking person in the holding room, told reporters he had to explain to other detainees — many of whom didn’t understand the charges or proceedings — that they were being deported.
“I told every single inmate down there: When I’m out, if I’m the only one who was able to leave that place, I lost,” Gomes da Silva said. “I want to do whatever I can to get them as much help as possible. If they have to be deported, so be it. But in the right way, in the right conditions. Because no one down there is treated good.”
Students at Milford High walked out of class Monday to protest his detention. On Tuesday night, the school volleyball team dedicated a match to him while supporters packed the gymnasium in white shirts.
“Marcelo is not a criminal. He’s a student,” said classmate Amani Jack. “I really want him to take a step in our shoes, witnessing this. Try and understand how we feel. We’re just trying to graduate high school.”
A federal judge reviewing Gomes da Silva’s request for release during his ongoing immigration proceedings has given the government until June 16 to respond and ordered that he not be transferred out of Massachusetts without providing the court 48 hours’ notice. A government request to transfer him to another facility was denied. Another immigration hearing is tentatively scheduled in the coming weeks.
“We’re optimistic that he’ll have a future in the United States,” Nice said.
