Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey expressed her demands for clarity on social media Sunday after ICE agents apprehended a high school student while he was on his way to volleyball practice over the weekend.
The student, 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes, is a junior at Milford High School in Milford, Massachusetts.
In her statement, Healey conveyed her “disturbance and outrage” and called for immediate explanations regarding the circumstances that led to the student being detained by immigration enforcement.
“I’m demanding that ICE provide immediate information about why he was arrested, where he is and how his due process is being protected,” she s.
U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, representing Milford, attended a protest and highlighted on social media that the student, identified as Gomes, was actively participating in his community by being “enrolled in honors classes, serving as a coaching assistant for girls volleyball, playing for boys volleyball, and being a member of the school band.”
“This administration has its public safety priorities backwards. It pardons cop-beaters from Jan. 6 but detains high-school volleyball players. It makes gun-purchaser background checks harder while pushing for tax breaks to buy silencers for pistols. This reckless behavior does not make the residents of Milford safer, and I stand with the community in support of law [and] order,” he wrote.
U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat who represents Milford in Congress, attended the protest and made note on X that Gomes was “enrolled in honors classes, a coaching assistant for girls volleyball [and] player for boys volleyball, and a member of the school band.” ( Rep. Jake Auchincloss on X)
Milford School District Superintendent Kevin McIntyre says that Gomes’ detention is one of many apprehensions to take place in the southern Massachusetts community.
McIntyre says the district cannot take any role in immigration enforcement, but they will “support all of our students and families, including those who are immigrants to the United States.”
“They are members of the community, students in our classrooms, athletes that compete representing Milford, musicians, artists, friends, and neighbors. We will do everything in our power to support our students and families during these difficult times,” he said in his statement.
Sunday morning was Milford High School’s graduation and Healey says a day of celebration has now been tarnished.
“My heart goes out to the Milford community on what was supposed to be a celebratory graduation day,” she said.
