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Federal judge blocks ICE’s plan to move Milford high school student out of Mass., says he can meet with lawyer
His lawyer said that the meeting, which she hopes will be “soon,” will be their first since Marcelo Gomes Da Silva has been in custody.
The Milford high schooler arrested by ICE over the weekend will be able to meet with his lawyer for the first time after a ruling from a federal judge, who also denied the federal government’s attempt to transfer him out of state.
Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, a Milford High School junior originally from Brazil, was arrested Saturday when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulled over a car of students on their way to early morning volleyball practice.
U.S. District Court of Massachusetts Judge George O’Toole granted his representation a private attorney-client meeting Wednesday, according to federal court records. Lawyer Miriam Conrad said that the meeting, which she hopes will take place “soon,” will be their first since he’s been in custody.
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A lawyer representing ICE filed an “emergency motion” earlier Wednesday to transfer Gomes Da Silva; Conrad filed an opposition to their motion. O’Toole sided with Conrad, denying ICE’s transfer request “without prejudice,” meaning the agency can try again in the future.
Gomes Da Silva, 18, is being held in Burlington, Conrad said, where the Boston ICE Field Office is located.
ICE was requesting authorization to move him “as soon as possible, and as early as this afternoon,” to a detention facility in Rhode Island, according to court filings obtained by MassLive. The filing said that the facility in Burlington is “not appropriate for his housing and care,” and “despite ICE’s efforts, ICE has been unable to secure a bed for Petitioner at a detention facility in Massachusetts.”
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Conrad told Boston.com that Gomes Da Silva will have a hearing before an immigration judge Thursday, where his representation will ask for him to be released on bond.
“Given he is not a flight risk or a danger to the community, we hope the judge does that,” Conrad said.
Mildford high school student was ‘collateral arrest’ by ICE
Since the 18-year-old Milford High School student was arrested, the community has come out in scores to protest his detention. Hundreds gathered at Milford Town Hall to show support for the student after the high school’s graduation ceremony Sunday, and students at the high school walked out of class Monday, chanting “Free Marcelo.”
His lawyer said he does not have a criminal record and was brought to the United States when he was 6.
An ICE spokesperson said the agency was targeting his father, Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira, who is also from Brazil. Agents instead arrested Gomes Da Silva, who they said is “illegally present.”
The 18-year-old was driving his father’s car, according to ICE, and agents detained him in a “collateral arrest” when they found that he was undocumented.
His family, including his father, pleaded for his release in a video released Wednesday by his lawyer.
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“Please bring my son back, I miss my son so much,” Gomes’ mother, Daiane Pereira, said as her husband visibly fought back tears and comforted her.
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