Milford student once detained by ICE to attend State of the Union

It's been quite a year for Marcelo Gomes da Silva, a high school student from Milford. Last spring, he was arrested by ICE and detained for six days. Tuesday night, he'll attend the State of the Union as a guest of Congressman Seth Moulton.

"It definitely makes me nervous, but at the same time, I'm very excited to go," Gomes da Silva told WBUR on a recent Sunday, as he took a break between church and volleyball practice.

Last May, Gomes da Silva, an immigrant from Brazil, was on his way to his team practice, driving his father's car when ICE officers arrested him. He was 18 at the time, a junior and a model student. But his visa had expired, so ICE detained him and locked him up for six days in an agency office building in Burlington that has since sparked controversy for its poor conditions.

Gomes da Silva and other people held there have said they were kept in crowded rooms with no windows or beds and a shared toilet. Moulton toured the facility in June and said it was unfit to hold people being detained overnight.

" It was very inhumane," according to da Silva Gomez, who said there was little to eat and no showers. "We slept on concrete floors."

ICE officials said they'd been trying to arrest Gomes da Silva's father, but when they discovered that Marcelo's student visa had expired, they grabbed him. At the time, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said the teenager was in the country illegally, and agents were "not going to walk away from anybody.”

Gomes da Silva, who's lived in the U.S. since he was 6 years old, said he's never considered himself anything but American.

"All I really know is America," he said. "And then you get that reminder that you're not supposed to be here."

As the days passed at the Burlington facility, Marcelo's fellow students staged a walk-out to protest his detention. The state's political leaders condemned the arrest, while his mother and father posted a plea for their son's release.

"We love America. Please, bring my son back," João Paulo Gomes-Pereira said in the video.

While detained, Gomes da Silva said he would share food and translate documents for other detainees. His lawyer fought in court to keep him in Massachusetts.

After almost a week locked up in Burlington, ICE released him. That's when he first met Moulton and Rep. Jake Auchincloss, both of whom visited the facility to examine the conditions.

Moulton, the Democrat from Salem, said he invited the high school student to the State of the Union because he likes to bring "great Americans" to the annual event.

According to Moulton, Gomes da Silva's arrest by ICE shows how misguided the Trump Administration's approach to immigration enforcement is.

"This is an honors student, a student athlete, a leader in his school who was targeted because he apparently violated an immigration order when he was six," Moulton said. "That's how absurd this MAGA crackdown is."

Moulton said after Gomes da Silva's release, the teenager seemed less concerned about his own frightening ordeal than about the plight of the other people in detention, including those who didn't speak English, and those who were shipped off to ICE detention facilities in other states.

"He was standing up for others when he himself had to sleep on a floor without a pillow or a blanket for six days," Moulton said.

Despite Gomes da Silva's age, Moulton said, he "embodies the American spirit" and is ready to face whatever President Trump might say in his speech about immigrants and ICE.

" I think after six days of detention, Marcelo knows all too well the cruelty of this president and his administration, so I don't think he is naive at all."

Moulton is running for the U.S. Senate against Ed Markey, who announced that he will boycott the State of the Union to protest what he calls Trump’s “gross abuse of power.” A number of lawmakers have said they'll boycott the speech.

Gomes da Silva said he was excited and a little nervous about making the trip to Washington. According to Moulton's staff, the teen was able to travel to D.C. ahead of the storm so he wouldn't miss the State of the Union. Among other things, Gomes da Silva said he was eager to see Trump speak, but what he'd really like is a chance to sit down and talk to him.

"I would love to open his eyes and give him an insight on how it feels to be an immigrant — show him a way to  be more sympathetic towards us," he said.

According to an email from his attorney, Robin Nice, Gomes da Silva has applied for asylum and has a court date "about two years away."

Like lots of high school seniors in America, Gomes da Silva wants to go to college next year. He's been accepted at Providence College, which he says he'd love to attend if he can afford it. But he's still fighting deportation — a painful reminder, he said, that the U.S. government doesn’t want him here.

"I feel like it's really hurtful to hear yourself being called 'an alien' when clearly you're just as human as everyone else," he said.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct Rep. Jake Auchincloss's first name.