Milford High School student speaks for first time since being released from ICE detention

MILFORD, Mass. — The Milford High School student who was arrested by immigration agents on his way to volleyball practice has been released from custody after a judge granted him bond Thursday.

Joined by Congressmen Seth Moulton and Jake Auchincloss, Marcelo Gomes Da Silva held back tears as he spoke outside of the Burlington ICE facility he was being held at.

“I don’t want to cry,” Gomes Da Silva said, “but I want to say that that place, it’s not good.”

The 18-year-old said he was placed in handcuffs and put in a small, cramped room with a bunch of grown men.

“It’d be really hard,” said Gomes Da Silva. “There were like 40 men in there, we would barely get any attention form the people there...I haven’t showered in 6 days.”

Gomes Da Silva said lunch and dinner at the Burlington facility would sometimes just be crackers, which he would share with others.

“Most people down there are all workers,” he said. “They all got caught going to work, these people have families man. They have kids to go home to.”

Marcelo Gomes da Silva’s full statements can be viewed below:

Marcelo Gomes Da Silva speaks for the first time upon release from ICE custody

Gomes Da Silva described poor conditions inside the holding facility, including sleeping on floors with “aluminum” blankets, and dozens of men sharing a bathroom together.

“I couldn’t use that bathroom,” he said. “I just felt very embarrassed for everyone there.”

The teen said guards were inattentive, often not responding to requests or allowing the detainees to go outside for fresh air.

Marcelo Gomes da Silva faced an immigration judge in Chelmsford via Zoom, where his attorney, Robin Nice, argued that he has no criminal record and is not a flight risk.

The judge agreed to release Gomes da Silva while he challenges the federal government’s efforts to deport him.

After the court agreed to release Gomes da Silva, Nice called the outcome “a hollow victory.”

“The judge granted bond in the amount of $2,000. Obviously, we’re thrilled,” Nice told reporters. “That’s the minimum or close to the minimum amount that can be set. She doesn’t have the ability to set no bond.”

Nice said Gomes da Silva might have to be outfitted with an ankle monitor and be subject to house visits.

Governor Healey issued the following statement after the release of Gomes da Silva:

“I’m relieved that Marcelo will be returning home to his parents, siblings, classmates and the Milford community. This has been such a traumatic time for this community, and I hope that they find some solace in knowing that the rule of law and due process still prevail. Marcelo never should have been arrested or detained, and it certainly did not make us safer. It’s not okay that students across the state are fearful of going to school or sports practice, and that parents have to question whether their children will come home at the end of the day. In Massachusetts, we are going to keep speaking out for what’s right and supporting one another in our communities.”

The hearing came one day after ICE filed a petition to move the 18-year-old to the Wyatt facility in Rhode Island, which was denied by a federal judge.

The filing stated that immigration authorities have not been able to secure a bed at the Burlington, Massachusetts, facility where Gomes da Silva had been held.

Nice said her client was sleeping on the floor in Burlington, while also announcing that she learned during the court hearing that Gomes da Silva had been transferred to a facility in Plymouth.

“Apparently, he’s in Plymouth, which is news to us,” Nice told reporters. “Because he’s at Plymouth, he still has to get processed out at the Burlington ICE facility.”

Gomes da Silva was on his way to volleyball practice on Saturday when immigration officers detained him, but they say they were looking for his father, João Paulo Gomes Pereira.

ICE officials have alleged that Gomes Pereira is wanted for speeding 100 miles an hour through residential areas. Marcelo was driving his father’s car when he was pulled over.

“When we go out into the community, and we find others who are unlawfully here, we are going to arrest them. We’ve been completely transparent with that. He’s 18 years old, he is unlawfully in this country,” Patricia Hyde, Field Office Director of ICE Enforcement, said earlier this week.

Nice has argued that while the student-athlete doesn’t have a current lawful status, he did enter the country lawfully.

“He doesn’t have current lawful status right now, but he did enter lawfully, he has no criminal record, so it does not, his situation does not at all fit into the narrative that ICE is putting out there that only criminals are being targeted,” Nice explained.

Nice said her client missed his high school graduation and semi-finals volleyball match while in custody, calling him the victim of a “ramped-up, irrational immigration campaign.”

“He’s going to go back to church, he’s going to go back to his girlfriend of two years,” Nice said of Gomes da Silva. “He’s going to go back to finishing out the school year.”

Boston 25 News found one record in the courts of a citation issued for Gomes Pereira in July of 2023 — court records show Milford Police cited him for failing to yield to a stop sign and driving with a revoked license as a habitual traffic offender. Sources familiar with his driving record tell 25 Investigates that he has had 16 driving-related citations since 2014.

The teen’s mother and father are desperate for their son to return home soon.

“I love Marcelo, we need Marcelo back home. It’s no family without him. We love America, please bring my son back,” his father said in a video message.

Milford Police Chief Robert Tusino says the department was not involved in this operation.

“I am not accusing any agency of doing anything wrong, I am just saying we’re a small community and I think these things come better if the local police can run the investigation because we know the players, we know the people,” said Tusino.

His case is due back in court on June 26.

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