Milford High School student detained by federal agents was not intended target, ICE says

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Milford High School student detained by federal agents was not intended target, ICE says

A Milford High School student who was

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was not the intended target of the ICE operation, authorities announced Monday.

Friends and family say Marcelo Gomes, 18, was off-campus and carpooling to volleyball practice with his teammates when ICE pulled over their vehicle and took him into custody.

The detainment of Gomes

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on Sunday, and his

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on Monday afternoon in support of him.

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons addressed the Milford operation during a news conference in Boston on Monday morning, describing Gomes as an “overstay.”

“We were looking for his father. Obviously, he isn’t the father of the year because he brought his son up here illegally as well…They made a traffic stop on that vehicle, which was the father’s vehicle. He was driving that vehicle,” Lyons explained. “Like any local law enforcement officer, if you encounter someone who has a warrant or is here illegally or has violated the law like this gentleman did, then we’re going to take action.”

Lyons said Gomes will face an immigration judge and have the opportunity to post bond, but declined to comment on where he is being held.

Lyons’ comments on Gomes came after

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During Monday’s walkout, a sea of students, including Gomes’ girlfriend, were heard chanting, “Free Marcello!”

Classmates of Gomes say he was in the band and scheduled to perform at the high school’s graduation ceremony. Now the community is rallying behind him.

State Representative Jake Auchincloss took part in Sunday’s protest. He says that the town of Milford doesn’t condone the act of detaining a student.

“If you’re here illegally and you break the law, you should be deported,” Auchincloss said. “Milford does not agree that if you’ve been here since before kindergarten, you’re an honor student, you’re a member of the high school band, that you should be getting bullied by immigration authorities while you’re carpooling with your friends.”

In a statement, Milford Public Schools Superintendent Kevin McIntyre said the district “plays no part in immigration enforcement and supports all of our students and families, including those who are immigrants to the United States.”

“They are members of the community, students in our classrooms, athletes that compete representing Milford, musicians, artists, friends, and neighbors,” McIntyre added. “We will do everything in our power to support our students and families during these difficult times.”

McIntyre also noted that a “number of parents” in the town have been detained in recent weeks.

Yago Sampaio was with Marcelo when he was detained by ICE on Saturday morning. He says they were in a car, on their way to volleyball practice.

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“It was honestly like a wake-up call for me,” Sampaio said, “In that moment that there was no easy way of kind of getting out of this.”

Marcelo’s friends say he was supposed to be playing the drums in the school band for the graduation ceremony.

One of Marcelo’s friends says he’s like a brother to him.

“We’re very good friends with him, he’s like a brother to me, and this is so disappointing that I have to see this happen for him to get out. He’s a great human being and never did anything, so I don’t understand why we’re going through all of this, especially on a day like this, where we graduated.”

Elizabeth Grady, a Milford parent, calls the situation “terrifying”.

“His parents are terrified, his classmates are terrified, his teammates are terrified, and students shouldn’t be terrified going to volleyball practice; this is not the United States of America that we signed up for.”

It’s not clear when Gomes will face a judge.

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