Photo: Kyle Bray/WBZ NewsRadio
MILFORD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Hundreds of Milford students, teachers, and community members packed the streets in front of town hall Sunday, calling for an 18-year-old high school student to be released from ICE custody.
ICE agents arrested Marcelo Gomes, a junior at Milford High, Saturday morning as he was on his way to an early volleyball practice. Gomes' girlfriend, Julianys Rentas Figueroa, said four cars with ICE agents stopped him as he was pulling into a driveway before interrogating and arresting him. He was then taken to a detention center in Burlington.
"Marcelo spoke to me [Saturday] in the afternoon ... we were in a three-way call with his parents and he said they had put chains around his ankles and on his wrists," she said. "I don't understand why they targeted Marcelo, he's been in Milford all his life."
In new court filings, his lawyers said Gomes has been living in the U.S. for 12 years on a student visa that has since expired, but he plans to apply for asylum. Gomes has no criminal record.
One of his teammates in the car said ICE agents asked Gomes and him about their immigration status. While Gomes was detained, ICE agents did not detain the other student, who is undocumented, because he was still a minor.
"An ICE agent turned to my [my sister-in-law] and told her that I was extremely lucky and to do me a favor and get me a lawyer to sort out my documentation because if I was a year older I would have been in the back of the car with my friend," he said.
In a press conference Monday, ICE officials said Gomes was not the target of their raid in Milford and that they were instead looking for his father. Gomes was driving his father's car at the time of the incident.
"[Agents] made a traffic stop on that vehicle, which was the father's," Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said. "But like any local law enforcement officer, if you encounter someone who has a warrant or is here illegally, we will take action on that."
The arrest took place the day before Milford High's graduation ceremony, where his girlfriend got her diploma and he was supposed to play the drums in the school band. After the ceremony ended, students marched over a mile from the school to the town hall for the rally. Figueroa said the support from the community is helping her through this moment.
"I feel so much love," Figueroa said. "I feel so blessed from God that we were able to organize this and that so many people care."
Milford High Volleyball coach Andrew Mainini joined in on the protest. He was tasked with telling the team that Gomes had been detained after their weekend practice had ended, a moment he called surreal.
"They were really shocked," he said. "Even as an adult, we didn't really know how to react. I don't think there's a playbook for this. It's not something we've experienced before."
Mainini also teaches Spanish at Milford High, where he has Gomes as a student.
"He is a bright spot in every room that he's in. When he walks in, he always has a smile, it's like this relentless smile, and what's great about him is that he's able to make other people smile too," Mainini said. "Everyone I've talked to has been like 'he's such a good person we just don't understand, he's such a good friend we just don't understand.' It's going to affect the way the community moves forward."
A federal judge ruled over the weekend that ICE cannot move Gomes out of Massachusetts for at least three days as another judge considers his request to be released immediately. Lyons said Gomes will get his day in court.
"ICE doesn't just scoop people off the street and remove them," Lyons said. "Everyone gets due process, and that is what the U.S. Attorney's office is for. That's what the immigration courts are for. He will go in front of an immigration judge and he'll have the opportunity to post bond.
Figueroa said she has one hope on her mind.
"Just that he gets out," she said.
WBZ's Kyle Bray (@KyleBrayWBZ) reports.