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Marlborough man with no criminal record detained by ICE and sent to Texas, attorney says
A lawyer for Lucas dos Santos Amaral said even an ICE agent she spoke to in Massachusetts seemed surprised to learn he’d been sent to Texas.
Days after detaining a Marlborough man originally from Brazil, federal immigration officials in Massachusetts quickly and quietly transferred him to a facility in Texas — a move his attorney says “came out of nowhere.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement records now indicate Lucas dos Santos Amaral is being held at a facility in Pearsall, Texas, thousands of miles away from his pregnant wife and their toddler daughter.
President Donald Trump has long promised mass deportations, vowing in his inaugural address to begin sending “millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.” But Amaral doesn’t have a criminal record, according to his immigration lawyer, Eloa Celedon. She said even an ICE agent she spoke to in Massachusetts seemed surprised to learn of Amaral’s transfer.
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“So that was really a red flag for me in terms of what they’re doing … how they’re handling folks with no criminal record, because in all these years of practice, when they’re moving folks around, removing them, it’s usually because they have an order for removal or they have some sort of serious criminal record,” Celedon explained. “But not in this case.”
WBUR first reported news of Amaral’s transfer to Texas.
Celedon said Amaral came to the U.S. legally in 2017 and overstayed his tourist visa. Flash forward to Jan. 27, when ICE agents reportedly stopped Amaral as he was driving to work and told him they were searching for someone who looked like him. Amaral wasn’t the person they wanted, but they took him into custody anyway after he shared his name and immigration status.
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“Unfortunately, he was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Celedon said.
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She said Amaral’s lawyers have opted for a multi-pronged approach, sending a request for his release to ICE’s field office in Burlington and filing a bond motion with the Chelmsford Immigration Court, which set a hearing for Feb. 13.
They also took the matter to federal court in Boston, filing a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Judge Denise Casper issued an order Wednesday barring officials from transferring Amaral out of Massachusetts without 48 hours’ notice, but Celedon said it appears he had already been moved by then. ICE did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
As Celedon explained, the secrecy and unreliable drip of information can make it difficult for immigration attorneys to take control of a case.
“ICE agents, they don’t care,” she said. “They don’t alert. They don’t pick up the calls.”
That can leave attorneys scrambling for information.
“You’re really just trying to connect the dots,” Celedon said. “Like, what’s really happening? Where is he? What are they going to do? Are they going to just remove him, or are they just going to keep him? Are they going to wait for that bond hearing?”
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State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who represents the Marlborough area, has been a vocal advocate for Amaral since he was taken into custody. In a post on Facebook this week, Eldridge said his team helped Amaral’s family get a lawyer and wrote a letter of support highlighting his ties to the community.
“What happened is deeply disturbing, because ICE profiled and arrested a Marlborough husband, father, business owner, church leader and longtime Massachusetts resident,” Eldridge wrote, also emphasizing Amaral’s lack of criminal record. In later updates, the lawmaker said Amaral’s sudden transfer to Texas was “chilling” and shared a link to a GoFundMe to support his wife and daughter.
Amaral’s absence has been stressful for his family, Celedon explained.
“In this particular case, [Lucas’s] wife said, ‘My daughter is having fevers, and my daughter has been crying for her dad,’” she said. “I mean, how can you explain to a 3-year-old what’s happening?”
Still, Celedon said she remains hopeful.
“We’re not going to give up on Lucas,” she said. “I’m sure there’s many Lucases out there, unfortunately, with no representation, and I hope this just brings awareness about what ICE is doing. They’re violating people’s rights with no probable cause. At times, just tricking them.”
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