Marcelo Gomes, a Massachusetts high school student who was suddenly detained on his way to volleyball practice over the weekend, was still being held by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Monday.
Gomes, an 18-year-old junior at Milford High School, was one of four volleyball players on their way to practice Saturday morning when three unmarked vehicles pulled up behind them. One of the students in the car told WBZ-TV that's when an ICE agent knocked on the window.
"They asked him what his documentation was," said the student, who did not want to be identified because he is also undocumented. The agent questioned everyone in the car and Gomes was taken into custody, separating him from his friends and family. The student who spoke to WBZ said he was not detained because he is underage.
"He's been here 13 years" "He's been here for 13 years. This is all he knows. Milford and Massachusetts is all he knows," said Gomes's cousin Ana Julia Araujo.
"It's kind of heart-breaking. Marcelo is such a kind person and he's the last person that this should be happening to, I guess. His siblings are so young and they're asking questions like, whether they're ever going to see him again," Araujo said.
She said he was supposed to play the drums at Milford High School's graduation Sunday. Instead, the community held a rally for him at town hall. That brought Araujo hope.
"It makes me really happy, because I don't think the community would come together like this for any other person. It shows how special he is," she said.
Held at ICE detention center in Burlington Araujo said Gomes was able to call his parents and that he's currently being held at an ICE detention center in Burlington.
There has been no comment from ICE about the Gomes case. U.S. Attorney Leah Foley will have a news conference with the agency Monday at 11:30 a.m. in Boston to discuss the immigration enforcement surge in Massachusetts.
Milford Police Chief Robert Dusino said his department didn't learn about Gomes's detention until after it happened.
"We want an open dialogue with the federal government about who's getting detained, why they're getting detained. We don't want people just coming into town and being detained or arrested solely because they're here illegally," he told reporters.
"He was targeted" "Marcelo was a good kid. He was excited for his future. He did absolutely nothing wrong. He was innocently going to a practice and he was targeted," said Gomes's girlfriend, Julianys Rentas, who graduated from Milford High School on Sunday.
She said many students are living in fear of ICE.
"There's no patterns, so no one knows who's next," Rentas said.
Cherie Peterson, who taught English to Gomes, said students "deserve to feel safe."
"I can't image how scared he is. He doesn't know how to navigate this system. I wouldn't know how to navigate this system," she said.