Local News

Milford community reels after ICE temporarily detains local teen

The teen’s family is still waiting for a decision on their asylum case.

Protesters rally against ICE enforcement actions after a 16 year-old was detained on Friday in Milford. Jessica Rinaldi / The Boston Globe

By Beth Treffeisen

September 16, 2025

3 minutes to read

A routine after-school stop for a snack turned into a traumatic encounter on Friday when a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer reportedly tackled 16-year-old Gustavo Enrique De Oliveira in Milford, threatened to shoot him, and briefly detained him.

According to his lawyers, the Milford High School student, who has no criminal history, was held for about an hour and ordered to report to ICE’s Burlington office this week. ICE released him after he checked in on Monday.

Lawyers from the Mabel Center, which is providing the family with pro bono legal support, say the unexpected detention has caused “fear” and “anxiety” for the family, who are awaiting a decision on their asylum case and were facing additional scrutiny from ICE on Tuesday.

“It was heart-wrenching to speak with (his mother) and see the suffering, the uncertainty, the anxiety,” said Alexandra Peredo Carroll, the director of legal education and advocacy at the Mabel Center. “This did not need to happen — other than to terrorize.”

Caroll said the incident started when Gustavo was a passenger in his friend’s car and a masked individual approached him — and he ran out of fear. He stopped when the officer threatened to shoot him, she said.

Gustavo’s family told NBC10 Boston that ICE agents then grabbed Gustavo, pinned him to the ground, put him in a car, and took him away.

The teen was taken a few blocks away down Main Street in a dark SUV, which the Milford Police Department caught on camera pulling in front of a white car to question someone in front of the police department.

The video footage shows a passerby stopping and then starting to take footage. He appears to interact with ICE agents. A crowd soon forms nearby, and members of the Milford Police Department help with crowd control and traffic.

The Milford Police did not provide a comment on the incident.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin released a statement stating Gustavo was not the target.

“ICE does NOT target juveniles or children,” her statement said.

During a targeted enforcement operation, McLaughlin said that two “illegal aliens” fled from a car on foot, and one of the suspected targets escaped.

During the operation, she said ICE briefly detained a 16-year-old Brazilian to “determine his identity and if he was a potential safety threat.”

McLaughlin said ICE was unaware of the teen’s age at the time of the detainment. She added that ICE called his parents to pick him up, but when they “refused to come get him,” ICE drove him home.

“He isn’t a public safety threat, and he never should have been arrested,” Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement in response to the incident. “These arrests by ICE aren’t about public safety; they are designed to sow fear and intimidation in our communities, and they make us all less safe.”

Community support

The community has come out to support the family, holding a rally on Sunday supporting immigrant rights near the corner where ICE officials detained Gustavo.

In a Facebook post, photos show signs saying, “Kids need parents, not prison,” “Education, not deportation,” and “Keep families together.”

The rally came as this is the second teenager in the town to be detained by ICE this year. Earlier in the summer, Marcelo Gomes da Silva, 18, was detained on his way to volleyball practice. A judge later released him on bond.

This most recent incident follows ICE’s new operation “Patriot 2.0,” which follows May’s crackdown, where nearly 1,500 immigrants were detained in the state.

Caroll noted, “Mildford has had enough with what is happening in their community.”

She pointed to alleged inaccuracies in McLaughlin’s statement that encouraged immigrants to “take control of their departure” using the CBP Home app. The app offers a $1,000 stipend to fly home while preserving the option to return the “legal way and live the American dream.”

The family members are going through the legal process of asylum, which requires them to be in the U.S. to apply. She said the detention is throwing a “wrench” in that process.

Caroll said these incidents sow fear and distrust in the institutions that make America great, such as the immigration court system.

“People have the right to not go through this,” Caroll said. These actions are eroding everybody’s protections, she said.

Caroll said that whether Gustavo will return to school is hard to answer. “The trauma that he and his family have endured as a result of ICE’s actions will be difficult to overcome.”