Marcelo Gomes Da Silva’s bedroom has a bunk bed, pale gray walls and a drum set. It was from here that his parents and younger siblings begged the federal government to release the 18-year-old Milford student in a video.
“My name is Daiane, Marcelo’s mother. Please bring my son back. I miss my son so bad. This is the room of my son, and I need my son inside my home. I need to hug my son — please,” said Gomes Da Silva’s mother, Daiane Pereira, as her husband held her hand.
Gomes Da Silva was pulled over and detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on his way to a high school volleyball practice on Saturday. He was driving his father’s car with friends and teammates. The detention has rocked the community, with multiple protests for his release drawing hundreds of people in the last few days.
Milford is the only home Gomes Da Silva has ever known, according to his attorney Robin Nice. She said Marcelo arrived in the United States at age five from Brazil.
In the video, Gomes Da Silva’s two younger siblings sit in the stairs of the bunk bed and look at the camera.
“Hi, ICE, my name is Miguel,” his younger brother said. “I really miss sleeping with my brother, saying goodnight. I just really miss having him with me. I just wanna give him a hug back. When he gets back, I will give him a really big hug. But ICE, please get him out. Please.”
Gomes Da Silva’s younger sister said she misses having sleepovers and watching movies with him.
“I just miss everything about him. I miss when he used to make ramen for me, and chicken nuggets in the air fryer. I just really miss him, and I hope he comes back soon,” she said.
“Please,” their mother added.
His father João Paulo Gomes-Pereira also addressed the camera: “Hello ICE,” he began. “I love my son, we need Marcelo back home. We love America. Please bring my son back.”
On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said it intended to detain his father when officials pulled over the car, calling Gomes-Pereira a ”public safety threat.“
Tricia McLaughlin with the Department of Homeland Security said that local authorities had alerted ICE that Gomes-Pereira had a habit of speeding to over 100 miles per hour.
”While ICE officers never intended to apprehend Gomes-DaSilva, he was found to be in the United States illegally and subject to removal proceedings, so officers made the arrest,“ wrote McLaughlin in an email.
District court records show João Paulo Gomes-Pereira has no pending criminal charges against him. In 2023, he had charges dropped by a judge and paid a fine of $100 for failing to stop/yield while driving.
Gomes Da Silva remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings, McLaughlin said. He is currently being held at a detention facility in Burlington, Massachusetts, according to Nice.
“This is his home. There’s nowhere else. There is no other home for him,” Nice said earlier this week. “There was nothing to warrant this rash and extreme action. He just seems like a kid who’s just trying to finish up his junior year, which is frankly stressful enough.”
At a press conference Monday, ICE’s acting director Todd Lyons responded to questions about about Gomes Da Silva: “I didn’t say he was dangerous. I said he was here illegally. We’re not gonna walk away from anybody.”
A media inquiry was sent to ICE regarding the video.
Copyright 2025 WGBH Radio. It was shared as part of the New England News Collaborative.
