A high school volleyball player who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on his way to a practice has been released on bond.
Marcelo Gomes da Silva, 18, had been held at a Burlington, Massachusetts detention facility since his arrest Saturday morning, after he was pulled over in a car with his teammates.
The teenager then appeared in court for a hearing on Thursday, when a judge ruled that he could be released on a $2,000 bond.
Attorneys for the government did not make any arguments, according to WCVB.
Yet the teenager could still be deported, as those proceedings move forward in the federal court system.
Speaking to reporters following his release, Gomes da Silva shared how he was carpooling to volleyball practice in Milford when he was stopped by police, and told to hand over his license and registration.
The officer, the teen said, ‘gave no reason to stop me,’ until he informed Gomes da Silva that he was in the country illegally.
The news shocked the teenager, who said he came to the United States when he was just six years old and did not know about his immigration status.
He then spent six days at the Burlington ICE facility, sleeping on a cement floor and sharing an open toilet with nearly 40 other adult men.
Marcelo Gomes da Silva, 18, spoke to reporters after he was released from ICE detention on Thursday
‘I haven’t showered in six days. I haven’t done anything. The only thing I could do is thank God every day, because that’s all I would do, I would pray there,’ the high schooler said, noting that he would also preach the Bible to the other migrants.
But even that proved to be difficult, as his lawyer says officers initially refused to provide him with a Bible – which Gomes da Silva said was outrageous given that he has recited the Pledge of Allegiance in school every day.
He was also not allowed to watch television or hear the news, as his friends and colleagues rallied for his freedom outside.
‘At the end of the day, this is not a good place to be,’ Gomes da Silva said of the detention center. ‘No one deserves to be held down there.’
He says he now wants to help those who are still at the facility, noting that his father – who is also facing deportation ‘always told me to be humble.’
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
