Crowds wearing white packed the stands of Milford High School to support an 18-year-old volleyball player detained by federal immigration authorities on Tuesday, June 3, 2024 in Milford, Mass. (Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via AP)

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The family of an 18-year-old Massachusetts high school student arrested on his way to volleyball practice pleaded with immigration officials to release him Wednesday.

“I love my son. We need Marcelo back home. It’s no family without him,” João Paulo Gomes Pereira said in a video released by his son's attorney. “We love America. Please, bring my son back.”

Marcelo Gomes da Silva, who came to the U.S. from Brazil at age 7, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Saturday. Authorities have said the agents were looking for the teenager’s father, who owns the car Gomes da Silva was driving at the time and had parked in a friend'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,” Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told reporters Monday.

Gomes da Silva initially entered the country on a visitor visa and was later issued a student visa that has since lapsed, said his attorney, Robin Nice. She described him as deeply rooted in his community and a dedicated member of both the Milford High School 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 said 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 judge considering Gomes da Silva’s request to be released while the immigration case proceeds has given the government until June 16 to respond and has ordered that Gomes da Silva not be moved out of Massachusetts without 48 hours’ notice given to the court. The government sought permission Wednesday to move Gomes da Silva to a detention facility in a different New England state, Nice said, a move his lawyers oppose because they fear it would delay an immigration hearing scheduled for Thursday. A judge quickly denied the request.

For now, he is being held in a processing facility that is not designed for detention, Nice said. Forty men are sharing one room, sleeping on the cement floor and sometimes only given crackers to eat, she said. Gomes da Silva told her he felt feverish and that after getting hit hard in the head by a volleyball a week before he was detained, he was now having throbbing headaches and vision problems.

“We're really concerned about him. We really want to get him medical care,” Nice said. “He's holding as well as he can, but he's struggling.”

The assistant U.S. attorney representing the government did not respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday. U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said earlier this week that ICE officers were targeting 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 said in a statement.

The video released Wednesday shows Gomes da Silva's parents and younger siblings in the teen's bedroom. His sister describes watching movies with her brother and enjoying food he cooks for her, including “chicken nuggets in the air fryer.”

“I miss everything about him,” she said.

“When he gets back, I will give him a really big hug,” Gomes da Silva's younger brother says. “But ICE, please get him out. Please.”

The arrest has sparked outrage among Democratic officials, including Gov. Maura Healey, who demanded information about his location and whether he is being afforded due process.

“They need to let him go,” Healey said in a video posted Tuesday on the social platform X. “Marcelo belongs in school, not in a detention center.”

Students at Milford High staged a walkout Monday to protest his detainment. Other supporters wore white and packed the stands of the high school gymnasium Tuesday night, when the volleyball team dedicated a match to their missing teammate.

“This is a really active, involved kid,” Nice, his attorney, said. “He is a credit to our society and it is backwards and crazy that we're putting him through this.”

News from © The Associated Press, 2025