Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Healey ‘demands answers,’ community members rally after ICE detains Milford High School student
The high school junior was arrested Saturday morning on his way to volleyball practice. Governor Maura Healey said she is "demanding immediate answers."
A Milford High School student was detained by federal immigration officials on his way to volleyball practice Saturday, prompting a protest of hundreds of people.
“It was shocking. It’s frankly disgusting,” said coach Andrew Mainini.
The high school junior was arrested when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulled over a car full of students, according to multiple reports. The boys were on their way to an early Saturday morning volleyball practice; Mainini told Boston.com he initially thought they overslept.
But, one of the student athletes texted Mainini, letting him know that the driver of their carpool had been detained by federal agents. The coach learned more details from the students Sunday, who said that upwards of ten masked people, who appeared to be ICE agents, began questioning the three high schoolers and scanning their faces with cell phones on their way to practice.
Advertisement:
“These are high school students. They’re honors and AP level students. They are members of athletic teams. They are members of the student council. They are members of the school musical ensembles,” Mainini said.
Sunday morning, Milford families celebrated during the high school’s graduation ceremony. Afterwards, community members gathered to support the detained student at Milford Town Hall. The town, which is about 40 miles southwest of Boston, is nearly 30 percent foreign-born, according to census data.
During Sunday’s demonstration, family members identified the detained student as 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes, according to reports. He is originally from Brazil, and his full name is Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, according to the ICE inmate tracker. The tracker did not say where he is currently being held as of Sunday evening.
Advertisement:
ICE and Milford police did not return a request for comment Sunday evening.
The coaching staff told the whole team about Da Silva after practice Saturday morning, after discussing it with school administration, Mainini said. Most of the team was in tears, he said, and one athlete even threw up.
“Marcelo was their friend. I think, to many of them, he felt like family. It was intense,” Mainini said. “He is deeply ingrained in the school community, and he is someone that touches people’s lives positively on a daily basis.”
The agents let the other two students go, Mainini said, including one who had a student visa through an exchange program. Agents told the other student to get “good representation because ICE would be back for them,” according to the coach. That student was under the age of 18.
“It was surreal,” Mainini said.
Governor Maura Healey said Sunday she “demands answers” about the arrest.
“Yet again, local officials and law enforcement have been left in the dark with no heads up and no answers to their questions,” Healey wrote on X. “I’m demanding that ICE provide immediate information about why he was arrested, where he is and how his due process is being protected.”
“Free Marcelo”: Hundreds gather at Milford Town Hall
Hundreds gathered along Main Street in Milford during Sunday’s protest, some students still in graduation robes, wearing Milford red and chanting “hands off our kids.” Protesters held signs like “due process,” “Free Marcelo,” “He belongs here,” and “Education not deportation.”
Advertisement:
Nearly 200 educators joined the demonstration, marching from the high school to town hall on Sunday, the Milford Teachers Association said. Union President Nick Molinari said “this student should have been at a volleyball practice with his teammates.”
“Instead, ICE agents targeted one of our students in a deliberate act of cruelty, traumatizing his family, friends and peers,” Molinari said. “This is immoral, unnecessary and should be universally condemned. We will not stand by while the rights and humanity of our students are violated.”
Rep. Jake Auchincloss also attended the demonstration.
“This administration has its public safety priorities backwards,” Auchincloss wrote on X. “It pardons cop-beaters from Jan 6 but detains high-school volleyball players. It makes gun-purchaser background checks harder while pushing for tax breaks to buy silencers for pistols.”
Detained high school student’s girlfriend: ‘He is not a criminal’
Milford Public Schools Superintendent Kevin McIntyre did not respond to a request for comment Sunday, but said in a statement to WCVB that the district has no role in immigration enforcement operations.
“We have also had a number of parents who have been detained by ICE in recent weeks. We are all distraught by this news,” McIntyre’s statement read. “They are members of the community, students in our classrooms, athletes that compete representing Milford, musicians, artists, friends, and neighbors. We will do everything in our power to support our students and families during these difficult times.”
Advertisement:
A friend who was in the car when Da Silva was arrested said “if I were a year older, I would have been in the back of the car with my friend,” WCVB reported. The student’s girlfriend, Julianys Rentas, told the news station that she spoke to Da Silva after he was detained.
“He told me he had chains around his ankles, he had chains around his wrists,” Rentas said. “He’s in a cell with 30 other men. He’s the only 18-year-old there, he’s the youngest there. He is not a criminal. He’s a member of this community and has never done anything wrong.”
Mainini said that Da Silva is enrolled in honors classes and is a member of the school band. He told Boston.com that Da Silva doesn’t have any significant disciplinary record.
“This is a story where I think the public needs to take a hard look at the situation and really question what exactly is going on,” Mainini said.
Mainini told the Globe that Da Silva is enrolled in honors classes and is a member of the school band. Dawn Craig, a Milford school administrator, said he helped coach the girls volleyball team and took care of his younger siblings.
“He’s been in this country since he was 5,” Craig told the Globe. “Where is he going to be sent?”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com