(5 Jun 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Burlington, Massachusetts – 5 June 2025
1. Marcelo Gomes da Silva walking, making his way to reporters after being released
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Marcelo Gomes da Silva, detained student:
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
"That place… it’s not good, it’s not good. Ever since I got here, they had me in handcuffs, they put me downstairs, and I was in a room with a bunch of 35-year-old men – and those rooms were small compared to the size of like how many men were there – there was like 40 men in there. We would barely get any attention from the people there. It, It would be really hard… 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. I would talk about the Bible to them. Sometimes our lunch and dinner would be crackers."
3. Wide of Marcelo Gomes da Silva speaking to Rep. Seth Moulton and Rep. Jake Auchincloss after his release
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Marcelo Gomes da Silva, detained student:
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
"At the end of the day, this place is not a good spot to be. Nobody should be in here. Most people down there are all workers. They all got caught going to work. And these people have families, man. Like, they have kids to go home to. And there’s genuine criminals out there that people aren’t giving attention to. They’re getting good people that don’t deserve to be here."
5. Gomes da Silva speaking with Moulton and Auchincloss
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Seth Moulton, (D) Massachusetts:
"We support securing our border. We support following the law. But this administration is breaking the law, this administration, is not keeping us safe by putting 18-year-old honor students in prison."
7. Gomes da Silva walking
STORYLINE:
A Massachusetts high school student who was arrested by immigration agents on his way to volleyball practice has been released from custody after a judge granted him bond Thursday.
Marcelo Gomes da Silva, 18, who came to the U.S. from Brazil at age 7, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Saturday.
Authorities have said the agents were looking for the Milford High School teenager’s father, who owns the car Gomes da Silva was driving at the time and had parked in a friend’s driveway.
Speaking with members of the media outside the detention center shortly after his release on $2,000 bond, Gomes da Silva described “humiliating” conditions and said his faith in God helped him through his six days of detention.
On his wrist, he wore a bracelet made from the thin sheet of metallic blanket he was given to sleep on the cement floor.
“I’ll always remember this place,” he said. “I’ll always remember how it was.”
Gomes da Silva, who said his father taught him to “put other people first,” said many of the men imprisoned with him didn’t speak English and didn’t understand why they were there. He had to inform some of them that they were being deported, and then watched them break down in tears.
“I told every single inmate down there: When I’m out, if I’m the only one who was able to leave that place, I lost,” he said. “I want to do whatever I can to get them as much help as possible. If they have to be deported, so be it. But in the right way, in the right conditions. Because no one down there is treated good.”
He said some days, he was given only crackers to eat, which he shared with the other men. One of his first stops after being released was to McDonald’s to get a soda, chicken nuggets and french fries.
—
AP video by Rodrique Ngowi
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/184553e85a39484baaa619b91e27d882
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in June 11, 2025, 12:04 am.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
