Support continues to grow for Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, the Milford High School student detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last weekend. His father spoke with us, sharing how devastating his son's absence has been for the family.
Gomes Da Silva's dad tells us his son’s faith is what’s helping him get through this difficult situation, as well as the support from the community.
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WATCH HERETuesday night, during the Milford High School boys’ varsity volleyball playoff game that Gomes Da Silva was supposed to be competing in, his teammates and the community rallied in support of him, wearing white shirts, urging authorities to “Free Marcelo.”
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SIGN UP Gomes Da Silva had been on his way to volleyball practice, driving his father’s car Saturday morning, when ICE agents detained him.
ICE said the teen's father was the intended target, wanted for driving in excess of 100 miles an hour in a residential zone.
His father said his son had an F-1 visa that they did not renew.
Gomes Da Silva will remain in Massachusetts for the time being. A 72-hour hold expired Wednesday afternoon, but a judge denied the government's request to move him from a facility in Burlington to Rhode Island.
Federal lawyers had said that facility had on-site medical staff that can care for him and provide attorney-client visiting rooms that weren't available in Massachusetts, but Gomes Da Silva's lawyers thought moving might delay an immigration hearing he has Thursday afternoon where they hope he will be released on bond.
His family has said he’s been moved back and forth between ICE holding cells in Burlington and Plymouth -- mostly because there weren’t enough beds -- and he had been sleeping on the floor.
The teen's family said he has flu-like symptoms, isn’t eating well and has anxiety.
In an exclusive interview with Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra, Gomes Da Silva’s father said his family was not mentally prepared for this arrest.
“Our life is here in the United States," Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira said. "We have no desire to return to our home country. We are here, we love this place, we love this nation, and we actually want to keep doing good for Americans, as we have done until now.”
“So he came in lawfully, he transitioned to another type of visa," said Robin Nice, Gomes Da Silva's immigration lawyer. "Whether or not that’s lapsed is sort of irrelevant to his detention, frankly.”
