After staging a school walkout and paying tribute to their detained classmate earlier this week, high school students gathered in Chelmsford, Massachusetts on Thursday to demand the release of Marcelo Gomes da Silva from an immigration detention facility—and were overjoyed when they learned a judge had ordered the 18-year-old to be released on bond.
Community members chanted Gomes da Silva's name after learning he would be released.
They also displayed signed reading, "ICE Out of Schools," referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that detained Gomes da Silva earlier this week.
Gomes da Silva's hometown of Milford erupted in fury at the news of his arrest, which occurred when he was stopped on his way to volleyball practice. Authorities have said they were looking for Gomes da Silva's father, who owns the car the student was driving and who Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claimed "has a habit of reckless driving."
The student's team dedicated a match to Gomes da Silva on Tuesday night, and supporters wore white to the game to honor him.
Gomes da Silva appeared via video at the immigration court on Thursday from an ICE facility in nearby Burlington.
"If you're detained here at the Burlington ICE facility, you do not see the light of day," his attorney, Robin Nice, said at the hearing. "You don't know what time it is. There's no TV. He asked for a Bible. He was not given a Bible. It is complete isolation."
Nice said the 18-year-old has been sleeping on a cement floor since being taken to the facility.
Gomes da Silva has been in the U.S. since he was 7 years old, having entered the country from his home country of Brazil on a visitor visa. He was later issued a student visa that has since lapsed, his lawyer told reporters.
The government sought permission from a federal judge on Wednesday to move Gomes da Silva to an out-of-state detention facility, which the judge rejected.
Gomes da Silva's immigration case is proceeding following his release on $2,000 bail.
The immigration judge set "a placeholder hearing date for a couple of weeks from Thursday," The Associated Press reported.
"We're optimistic that he'll have a future in the United States," said Nice.
Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey expressed relief at the news that Gomes da Silva was being released.
"Marcelo never should have been arrested or detained, and it certainly did not make us safer," said Healey. "It's not OK that students across the state are fearful of going to school or sports practice, and that parents have to question whether their children will come home at the end of the day. In Massachusetts, we are going to keep speaking out for what's right and supporting one another in our communities."
