ICE Officials Defend MA High School Student Arrest Amid Growing Outcry, Protests

MILFORD, MA — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons defended the arrest and ongoing detention of an 18-year-old Milford High School student and school band member taken into custody on his way to volleyball practice this weekend during a news conference on Monday to announce a month-long immigration crackdown that federal officials said led to nearly 1,500 arrests of those in the country illegally.

That includes 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes, who was arrested after being stopped while driving his father's car to practice on Saturday. Boston ICE Director Patricia Hyde said that while the high school junior was not the target of the traffic stop: "He's 18 years old. He's unlawfully in this country. And, unfortunately, we had to go to Milford to look for someone else, and we came across him, and he was arrested."

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"We were looking for his father," Lyons stepped in and said. "Obviously, he isn't Father of the Year because he brought his son up here illegally as well. ... I didn't say (Marcelo Gomes) was dangerous. I said he was in this country illegally. And we're not going to walk away from anybody."

Family members said Gomes has been in the United States since he was 5 years old.

Milford High students staged a walkout from school on Monday, two days after a graduation ceremony at which Gomes was supposed to perform with the school band. Gov. Maura Healey issued a statement on Sunday demanding information on how the teen's "due process is being protected."

"My heart goes out to the Milford community on what was supposed to be a celebratory graduation day," Healey said. "The Trump Administration continues to create fear in our communities, and it’s making us all less safe."

A rally at Milford Town Hall in support of Gomes, and in condemnation of ICE's actions, drew more than 1,200 students and community members on Sunday, according to the Milford Teachers Association.

"This student should have been at a volleyball practice with his teammates," said MTA President Nick Molinari said. "Instead, ICE agents targeted one of our students in a deliberate act of cruelty, traumatizing his family, friends and peers. This is immoral, unnecessary and should be universally condemned.

"We will not stand by while the rights and humanity of our students are violated."

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Lyons said the student will go in front of an immigration judge and will have the opportunity to post bond. But he likened the immigration arrest to that of a teen being pulled over and arrested for being a dangerous driver.

"Boston police stop an 18-year-old on the way to high school — are we having this conversation right now?" Lyons said. "It happens every day. Every day, there are multiple 18-year-olds arrested. But, yet, we have focused on this one.

"And, I will say, his dad hasn't turned himself in yet, and his dad knows he's the target of it."

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The student's arrest comes amid increasing confrontations between ICE agents and those attempting to impede their attempts to detain those accused of being in the country illegally.

U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said during Monday's news conference that "we will not tolerate" actions that interfere with ICE and law enforcement operations related to immigration violations.

"What I have seen on the news and social media is concerning, to say the least," Foley said. "Agent safety is paramount. It is a felony to threaten or assault a federal agent. I want to be clear about that. No one is above the law. This is non-negotiable. The law in this area is clear, and I will not sit idly by and watch federal agents being threatened."

Federal officials on Monday said that more than half of the 1,461 immigration arrests during "Operation Patriot" had "significant criminal convictions or charges" and that 799 of what they called the "alien offenders" were charged with or convicted of crimes in the United States or abroad.

"Make no mistake: Every person that we arrested was breaking our immigration laws, but most of these individuals had significant criminality," Hyde said. "They are criminal offenders who victimized innocent people and traumatized entire communities — murderers, rapists, drug traffickers, child sex predators and members of violent transnational criminal gangs. Some were convicted of violent crimes in the United States, and others were wanted for criminality in their native countries.

"All made the mistake of attempting to subvert justice by hiding out in Massachusetts."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)