CHELMSFORD, Mass. (AP) — An immigration judge on Thursday granted bond to a Massachusetts high school student who was arrested on his way to volleyball practice last weekend.
Marcelo Gomes da Silva, 18, 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 Milford High School teenager’s father, who owns the car Gomes da Silva was driving at the time and had parked in a friend’s driveway.
“This kid is as clean as a whistle,” his lawyer, Robin Nice, told reporters after a hearing in Chelmsford. Gomes da Silva, who was expected to be released Thursday afternoon on $2,000 bond, appeared via video from elsewhere in Massachusetts.
She said Gomes da Silva slept on the cement floor of a room holding 25 to 35 men most of the time he was detained with no windows, no time outside and no permission to shower. He went to the hospital Wednesday because he had concerns about a concussion he received before he was detained and was suffering from a bad cold, Nice said.
“He’s looking forward to eating Snickers and chicken nuggets when he is released,” she said.
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.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said Monday that “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.”
Gomes da Silva initially entered the country on a visitor visa and was later issued a…