By HOLLY RAMER
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The household of an 18-year-old Massachusetts highschool pupil arrested on his option to volleyball observe pleaded with immigration officers to launch him Wednesday.
“I love my son. We need Marcelo back home. It’s no family without him,” João Paulo Gomes Pereira stated in a video launched by his son’s legal professional. “We love America. Please, bring my son back.”
Marcelo Gomes da Silva, who got here to the U.S. from Brazil at age 7, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers Saturday. Authorities have stated the brokers have been searching for {the teenager}’s father, who owns the automobile Gomes da Silva was driving on the time and had parked in a pal’s driveway.
“Like any local law enforcement officer, if you encounter someone that has a warrant or … he’s here illegally, we will take action on it,” Appearing ICE Director Todd Lyons instructed reporters Monday.
Gomes da Silva initially entered the nation on a customer visa and was later issued a pupil visa that has since lapsed, stated his legal professional, Robin Good. She described him as deeply rooted in his neighborhood and a devoted member of each the Milford Excessive Faculty marching band and a band at his church.
“He has glowing letters from his principal, from teachers, from his volleyball coach, from his pastor. He has no criminal record. This kid has never interacted with police until last Saturday, and he entered the U.S. lawfully,” she stated in an interview Wednesday. “Even if removal proceedings are the appropriate avenue in his case, which is fine, there’s no reason for him to be detained.”
A federal decide contemplating Gomes da Silva’s request to be launched whereas the immigration case proceeds has given the federal government till June 16 to reply and has ordered that Gomes da Silva not be moved out of Massachusetts with out 48 hours’ discover given to the court docket. The federal government sought permission Wednesday to maneuver Gomes da Silva to a detention facility in a special New England state, Good stated, a transfer his attorneys oppose as a result of they worry it will delay an immigration listening to scheduled for Thursday.
For now, he’s being held in a processing facility that’s not designed for detention, Good stated. Forty males are sharing one room, sleeping on the cement ground and typically solely given crackers to eat, she stated. Gomes da Silva instructed her he felt feverish and that after getting hit onerous within the head by a volleyball per week earlier than he was detained, he was now having throbbing complications and imaginative and prescient issues.
“We’re really concerned about him. We really want to get him medical care,” Good stated. “He’s holding as well as he can, but he’s struggling.”
The assistant U.S. legal professional representing the federal government didn’t reply to an e-mail looking for remark Wednesday. U.S. Division of Homeland Safety spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin stated earlier this week that ICE officers have been focusing on a “known public safety threat” and that Gomes da Silva’s father “has a habit of reckless driving at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour through residential areas.”
“While ICE officers never intended to apprehend Gomes da Silva, he was found to be in the United States illegally and subject to removal proceedings, so officers made the arrest,” she stated in a press release.
The video launched Wednesday reveals Gomes da Silva’s dad and mom and youthful siblings within the teen’s bed room. His sister describes watching films along with her brother and having fun with meals he cooks for her, together with “chicken nuggets in the air fryer.”
“I miss everything about him,” she stated.
“When he gets back, I will give him a really big hug,” Gomes da Silva’s youthful brother says. “But ICE, please get him out. Please.”
The arrest has sparked outrage amongst Democratic officers, together with Gov. Maura Healey, who demanded details about his location and whether or not he’s being afforded due course of.
“They need to let him go,” Healey stated in a video posted Tuesday on the social platform X. “Marcelo belongs in school, not in a detention center.”
College students at Milford Excessive staged a walkout Monday to protest his detainment. Different supporters wore white and packed the stands of the highschool gymnasium Tuesday night time, when the volleyball group devoted a match to their lacking teammate.
“This is a really active, involved kid,” Good, his legal professional, stated. “He is a credit to our society and it is backwards and crazy that we’re putting him through this.”
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