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Marcelo Gomes Da Silva’s bedroom has a bunk bed, pale gray walls and a drum set. It was from here that his parents and younger siblings begged the federal government to release the 18-year-old Milford student in a video.
“My name is Daiane, Marcelo’s mother. Please bring my son back. I miss my son so bad. This is the room of my son, and I need my son inside my home. I need to hug my son — please,” said Gomes Da Silva’s mother, Daiane Pereira, as her husband held her hand.
Gomes Da Silva was pulled over and detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on his way to a high school volleyball practice on Saturday. He was driving his father’s car with friends and teammates. The detention has rocked the community, with multiple protests for his release drawing hundreds of people in the last few days.
Milford is the only home Gomes Da Silva has ever known, according to his attorney Robin Nice. She said Marcelo arrived in the United States at age five from Brazil. He’s a member of his church’s band and his high school marching band.
In the video, Gomes Da Silva’s two younger siblings sit in the stairs of the bunk bed and look at the camera.
“Hi, ICE, my name is Miguel,” his younger brother said. “I really miss sleeping with my brother, saying goodnight. I just really miss having him with me. I just wanna give him a hug back. When he gets back, I will give him a really big hug. But ICE, please get him out. Please.”
Gomes Da Silva’s younger sister Mariana said she misses having sleepovers and watching movies with him.
“I just miss everything about him. I miss when he used to make ramen for me, and chicken nuggets in the air fryer. I just really miss him, and I hope he comes back soon,” she said.
“Please,” their mother added.
His father João Paulo Gomes-Pereira also addressed the camera: “Hello ICE,” he began. “I love my son, we need Marcelo back home. We love America. Please bring my son back.”
On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said it intended to detain his father when officials pulled over the car, calling Gomes-Pereira a ”public safety threat.“
Tricia McLaughlin with the Department of Homeland Security said that local authorities had alerted ICE that Gomes-Pereira had a habit of speeding to over 100 miles per hour.
“While ICE officers never intended to apprehend Gomes-DaSilva, he was found to be in the United States illegally and subject to removal proceedings, so officers made the arrest,“ McLaughlin wrote in a Wednesday email about the video, repeating a statement she made to GBH News Monday about his detention. “Gomes-DaSilva remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.”
At a press conference Monday, ICE’s acting director Todd Lyons responded to questions about about Gomes Da Silva: “I didn’t say he was dangerous. I said he was here illegally. We’re not gonna walk away from anybody.”
District court records show João Paulo Gomes-Pereira has no pending criminal charges against him. In 2023, he had charges dropped by a judge and paid a fine of $100 for failing to stop/yield while driving.
Gomes Da Silva remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings, McLaughlin said. He is currently being held at a detention facility in Burlington, Massachusetts.
“He’s not doing great — he’s just not feeling well,” said Nice, who said she spoke to Gomes Da Silva Tuesday. “He is in a really, really hot room with about 40 men twice his age. There’s no private bathroom, everything is completely open.”
She said his vision in one of his eyes has gone dark in a corner, possibly due to a concussion he might have sustained during volleyball last week.
“We’d like to get checked out,” said Nice. “So he’s not doing great and his bond hearing is tomorrow. We are optimistic he’ll be released, but obviously we won’t know until we get there and see what the judge says.”
Gomes Da Silva is scheduled to appear at two immigration court hearings on Thursday before an immigration judge in Chelmsford. On Wednesday afternoon, U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. denied the federal government’s request to move the teenager to Rhode Island.
O’Toole Jr. issued an order earlier this week that warned the Department of Homeland Security to not transfer him out of state without notifying the court 48 hours in advance. Gomes Da Silva’s ongoing habeas corpus petition, filed Sunday, alleges his due process rights were violated when ICE arrested him.
A number of advocates plan to go to the immigration court on Thursday to show their support for the teenager.
“It’s really painful to see the human cost of ICE enforcement in communities like Milford,” said Diego Low, director of Casa do Trabalhador, a community organization that is supporting the family. “I think the way the community has rallied keeps it from being crushing.”
