Athlete, musician, an excellent high school student with an infectious smile.
That's a community member in Milford, Massachusetts, who described 18-year-old high school junior Marcelo Gomes da Silva, who was arrested by immigration authorities and sent to custody this weekend.
Gomes da Silva was on his way to volleyball practice with some teammates on Saturday morning when immigration authorities stopped him.
Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. immigration and customs law enforcement, said immigration authorities stopped traffic because they were looking for Gomes da Silva's father, who attended the country illegally.
Lyon said at a press conference on Monday that the ice officer detained Gomes da Silva after learning that he had also appeared illegally.
Friends said Gomes da Silva was born in Brazil but attended Milford Public School since she was 6 years old.
Patricia H. Hyde, an ice rink official in Boston, said in a news conference that although “he was not the target of the investigation, he was arrested during a one-month immigration enforcement operation in Massachusetts, resulting in the arrest of nearly 1,500 immigrants.
“When we get into the community and we find other illegal people here, we’re going to arrest them,” Hyde said. “We’re very transparent about it.”
As of Monday morning, Gomes da Silva was still in custody in the ice, Hyde said.
Kevin McIntyre, head of Milford Public Schools, said many parents and members of the school community were detained by ICE, in addition to Gomes da Silva.
"We are all frustrated by the news," McIntyre told NBC Boston in a statement, adding that Milford Public Schools do not play a role in immigration enforcement and supports all students and their families, including immigrants.
"They are members of the community, students in our classrooms, athletes representing Milford, musicians, artists, friends and neighbors," the principal continued. "In these difficult times, we will do everything we can to help our students and families."
Gomes da Silva's teammate was pulled by four cars and witnesses witnessed ice arrest on Saturday, texting their high school volleyball coach around 8:30 a.m.
“I sat there and thought, ‘This can’t happen,’” volleyball coach Andrew Mainini told NBC Boston. "It's one thing to see what's going on in the world. It's another to have them directly impact the people you work with and take care of every day."
Gomes da Silva is supposed to play drums at her girlfriend’s high school graduation ceremony on Sunday. His absence was evident during the start of Milford High School as his band members performed without him sparked post-graduate protests demanding him to release him.
After the opening ceremony, hundreds of students were still wearing graduation gowns, teachers, relatives and other community members heading to Milford City Hall, holding signs and chanting “Free Marcelo.”
Gomes da Silva's girlfriend Julianys Rentas Figueroa said she spoke to him on the phone after being detained on Saturday. He told her immigration authorities that "lock the chain on his ankle, wrist" that he still wore her red graduation gown, Rentas Figueroa told NBC Boston on Sunday. "I haven't talked to him since then. I don't know his condition."
"I don't understand why Marcelo was the target. He spent his whole life in Milford," said Rentas Figueroa.
Rentas Figueroa said Gomes da Silva was transferred to two different holding facilities in Massachusetts over the weekend.
Diego Low, director of Metrowest Workers Center, a Massachusetts-based immigration advocacy group, told NBC News that Gomes Da Silva's cousin contacted the center after being detained.
"We are working hard to support him," Lauter said, adding that immigration lawyers are discussing on behalf of the family to prevent Gomes da Silva from being transferred to a detention center in another state.
Gomes da Silva's cousin Ana Julia Araujo said the 18-year-old sibling is questioning whether they will be him again.
Milford police said this was not involved, claiming that the ICE did not notify the department of the arrest.
"Marcelo is someone we don't know. So, what will this tell you? If I don't know you, if my officers don't know you, this is the reason we don't know you. It's because you probably aren't a hassle," Chief Robert Tusino told NBC Boston.
Gomes da Silva was detained and “disturbed and angry”, Governor Maura Healey said in a statement over the weekend, adding that such arrests made us “make all of us safer.”
"I hate that I have to deal with this when I graduate and see one of my greatest friends be taken away for no reason," a friend of Gomes da Silva, who participated in the parade told NBC Boston during Sunday's protests.
“I just pray that we can make a difference because it’s so frustrating,” the unnamed girl cried.