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The arrest of 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes Da Silva by federal immigration agents sparked outrage in the town of Milford, Massachusetts over the weekend, with community members rallying on Sunday to demand the high school student’s immediate release after he was detained while on his way to volleyball practice.
Gomes was born in Brazil but has been in the U.S. since he was 6 years old and has two younger siblings, both of whom are American citizens. According to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement database, Gomes is being held in a Burlington, Massachusetts detention facility.
His arrest cast a dark shadow over Milford High School’s commencement ceremony on Sunday, with principal Joshua Otlin saying during his address, “We cannot and will not pretend that all is well at Milford High School this morning.”
“It is not,” he added.
The Boston Globe reported that shortly before noon on Sunday, “demonstrators — from parents with young children to retired teachers — began to gather in front of Milford Town Hall.”
“Many were Milford residents, outraged that a teenager who’d grown up in their town had been detained,” the Globe reported. “Others were supporters and advocates from surrounding communities. Teachers, administrators, and athletic staff from Milford schools joined the rally. Soon, rows of demonstrators stretched for a block on both sides of the street adjacent to Town Hall. Shortly before 1 pm, the numbers swelled as students, some still donning their scarlet red graduation robes, descended upon Town Hall from commencement.”
Democratic State Rep. Becca Rausch, one of the lawmakers who attended Sunday’s rally, ripped ICE’s conduct and said that “putting high school students in shackles does not make anyone safer.”
The arrest came amid a recent flurry of ICE arrests in Massachusetts and across the country. On Monday, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) is set to convene a press conference and roundtable to discuss “an uptick in ICE activity across the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District and the Commonwealth, including a series of harrowing incidents in East Boston, Chelsea, Everett, and other predominantly immigrant communities.”
In a statement Sunday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said she was “disturbed and outraged by reports that a Milford High School student was arrested by ICE on his way to volleyball practice yesterday.”
“Yet again, local officials and law enforcement have been left in the dark with no heads up and no answers to their questions. I’m demanding that ICE provide immediate information about why he was arrested, where he is, and how his due process is being protected,” said Healey. “My heart goes out to the Milford community on what was supposed to be a celebratory graduation day. The Trump administration continues to create fear in our communities, and it’s making us all less safe.”
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