The acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) defended his agency’s decision to arrest a Massachusetts high school student en route to volleyball practice, stating, “He’s in this country illegally, and we’re not going to walk away from anybody.”
Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions during an event in Boston, addressing the Saturday arrest of 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, a Brazilian national who has resided in the United States since 2012.
Gomes’ arrest has ignited widespread protests in the Boston suburb of Milford, where he lives, and prompted a demand for information from Democratic Governor Maura Healey, who expressed her “disturbance and outrage.”
Lyons addressed Gomes’ arrest while announcing the results of an immigration enforcement surge in Massachusetts, which resulted in the detention of nearly 1,500 individuals last month as part of Republican President Donald Trump’s policy to increase mass deportations.
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Lyons and Patricia Hyde, the acting field director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Boston, clarified that Gomes was not the primary target of the investigation but rather that authorities were seeking his father, who remains at large.
“So obviously, he isn’t the father of the year because he brought his son up here illegally as well,” Lyons commented.
Lyons stated that the Milford High School student was driving his father’s vehicle when he was apprehended following a traffic stop. He emphasized that when authorities encounter someone in the country illegally, “we will take action on that.”
“We’re doing the job that ICE should have been doing all along,” he asserted. “We enforce all immigration laws.”
In response to a lawsuit alleging unlawful detention, a federal judge issued an emergency order on Sunday preventing authorities from transferring Gomes out of Massachusetts for at least 72 hours.
The lawsuit contends that Gomes initially entered the United States on a student visa. While his student visa status has expired, the lawsuit states that he is eligible for and intends to apply for asylum.
