SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Family members and classmates of Marcelo Gomes Da Silva rally against his arrest outside of Milford Town Hall on June 1, 2025 in Milford, Massachusetts.
(Photo: Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Fury in Massachusetts Town After ICE Arrest of High School Student
"Putting high school students in shackles does not make anyone safer."
Jun 02, 2025
The arrest of 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes Da Silva by federal immigration agents sparked outrage in the town of Milford, Massachusetts over the weekend, with community members rallying on Sunday to demand the high school student's immediate release after he was detained while on his way to volleyball practice.
Gomes was born in Brazil but has been in the U.S. since he was 6 years old and has two younger siblings, both of whom are American citizens. According to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement database, Gomes is being held in a Burlington, Massachusetts detention facility.
His arrest cast a dark shadow over Milford High School's commencement ceremony on Sunday, with principal Joshua Otlin saying during his address, "We cannot and will not pretend that all is well at Milford High School this morning."
"It is not," he added.
The Boston Globe reported that shortly before noon on Sunday, "demonstrators—from parents with young children to retired teachers—began to gather in front of Milford Town Hall."
"Many were Milford residents, outraged that a teenager who'd grown up in their town had been detained," the Globe reported. "Others were supporters and advocates from surrounding communities. Teachers, administrators, and athletic staff from Milford schools joined the rally. Soon, rows of demonstrators stretched for a block on both sides of the street adjacent to Town Hall. Shortly before 1 pm, the numbers swelled as students, some still donning their scarlet red graduation robes, descended upon Town Hall from commencement."
Democratic State Rep. Becca Rausch, one of the lawmakers who attended Sunday's rally, ripped ICE's conduct and said that "putting high school students in shackles does not make anyone safer."
"The Trump administration continues to create fear in our communities, and it's making us all less safe."
The arrest came amid a recent flurry of ICE arrests in Massachusetts and across the country. On Monday, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) is set to convene a press conference and roundtable to discuss "an uptick in ICE activity across the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District and the Commonwealth, including a series of harrowing incidents in East Boston, Chelsea, Everett, and other predominantly immigrant communities."
In a statement Sunday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said she was "disturbed and outraged by reports that a Milford High School student was arrested by ICE on his way to volleyball practice yesterday."
"Yet again, local officials and law enforcement have been left in the dark with no heads up and no answers to their questions. I'm demanding that ICE provide immediate information about why he was arrested, where he is, and how his due process is being protected," said Healey. "My heart goes out to the Milford community on what was supposed to be a celebratory graduation day. The Trump administration continues to create fear in our communities, and it's making us all less safe."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The arrest of 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes Da Silva by federal immigration agents sparked outrage in the town of Milford, Massachusetts over the weekend, with community members rallying on Sunday to demand the high school student's immediate release after he was detained while on his way to volleyball practice.
Gomes was born in Brazil but has been in the U.S. since he was 6 years old and has two younger siblings, both of whom are American citizens. According to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement database, Gomes is being held in a Burlington, Massachusetts detention facility.
His arrest cast a dark shadow over Milford High School's commencement ceremony on Sunday, with principal Joshua Otlin saying during his address, "We cannot and will not pretend that all is well at Milford High School this morning."
"It is not," he added.
The Boston Globe reported that shortly before noon on Sunday, "demonstrators—from parents with young children to retired teachers—began to gather in front of Milford Town Hall."
"Many were Milford residents, outraged that a teenager who'd grown up in their town had been detained," the Globe reported. "Others were supporters and advocates from surrounding communities. Teachers, administrators, and athletic staff from Milford schools joined the rally. Soon, rows of demonstrators stretched for a block on both sides of the street adjacent to Town Hall. Shortly before 1 pm, the numbers swelled as students, some still donning their scarlet red graduation robes, descended upon Town Hall from commencement."
Democratic State Rep. Becca Rausch, one of the lawmakers who attended Sunday's rally, ripped ICE's conduct and said that "putting high school students in shackles does not make anyone safer."
"The Trump administration continues to create fear in our communities, and it's making us all less safe."
The arrest came amid a recent flurry of ICE arrests in Massachusetts and across the country. On Monday, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) is set to convene a press conference and roundtable to discuss "an uptick in ICE activity across the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District and the Commonwealth, including a series of harrowing incidents in East Boston, Chelsea, Everett, and other predominantly immigrant communities."
In a statement Sunday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said she was "disturbed and outraged by reports that a Milford High School student was arrested by ICE on his way to volleyball practice yesterday."
"Yet again, local officials and law enforcement have been left in the dark with no heads up and no answers to their questions. I'm demanding that ICE provide immediate information about why he was arrested, where he is, and how his due process is being protected," said Healey. "My heart goes out to the Milford community on what was supposed to be a celebratory graduation day. The Trump administration continues to create fear in our communities, and it's making us all less safe."
From Your Site Articles
The arrest of 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes Da Silva by federal immigration agents sparked outrage in the town of Milford, Massachusetts over the weekend, with community members rallying on Sunday to demand the high school student's immediate release after he was detained while on his way to volleyball practice.
Gomes was born in Brazil but has been in the U.S. since he was 6 years old and has two younger siblings, both of whom are American citizens. According to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement database, Gomes is being held in a Burlington, Massachusetts detention facility.
His arrest cast a dark shadow over Milford High School's commencement ceremony on Sunday, with principal Joshua Otlin saying during his address, "We cannot and will not pretend that all is well at Milford High School this morning."
"It is not," he added.
The Boston Globe reported that shortly before noon on Sunday, "demonstrators—from parents with young children to retired teachers—began to gather in front of Milford Town Hall."
"Many were Milford residents, outraged that a teenager who'd grown up in their town had been detained," the Globe reported. "Others were supporters and advocates from surrounding communities. Teachers, administrators, and athletic staff from Milford schools joined the rally. Soon, rows of demonstrators stretched for a block on both sides of the street adjacent to Town Hall. Shortly before 1 pm, the numbers swelled as students, some still donning their scarlet red graduation robes, descended upon Town Hall from commencement."
Democratic State Rep. Becca Rausch, one of the lawmakers who attended Sunday's rally, ripped ICE's conduct and said that "putting high school students in shackles does not make anyone safer."
"The Trump administration continues to create fear in our communities, and it's making us all less safe."
The arrest came amid a recent flurry of ICE arrests in Massachusetts and across the country. On Monday, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) is set to convene a press conference and roundtable to discuss "an uptick in ICE activity across the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District and the Commonwealth, including a series of harrowing incidents in East Boston, Chelsea, Everett, and other predominantly immigrant communities."
In a statement Sunday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said she was "disturbed and outraged by reports that a Milford High School student was arrested by ICE on his way to volleyball practice yesterday."
"Yet again, local officials and law enforcement have been left in the dark with no heads up and no answers to their questions. I'm demanding that ICE provide immediate information about why he was arrested, where he is, and how his due process is being protected," said Healey. "My heart goes out to the Milford community on what was supposed to be a celebratory graduation day. The Trump administration continues to create fear in our communities, and it's making us all less safe."
From Your Site Articles
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.