ICE announces Milford high schooler update
BOSTON (WWLP) – The US Attorney's office and ICE officials held a press conference on Monday, providing updates on their activity in the Bay State, and on the recent arrest of a Milford high school junior.
The update comes as ICE has ramped up their detainment efforts exponentially over the last several months, making headlines as nearly 1,500 known criminals and honors students alike are taken into custody. US Attorney Leah Foley says ICE is carrying out their duties, and threatened those who try to interfere with prosecution.
'These are defendants who didn't simply cross a border, they crossed a line and jeopardized the safety of Massachusetts communities,' said Foley.
ICE officials were asked about the whereabouts of an 18-year-old Milford high schooler who was detained on the way to volleyball practice this weekend. They declined to disclose where he is being held, but clarified that the target of their investigation was the student's father, and while the student has no criminal record, he was detained for residing in the United States illegally.
'Like, I didn't say he was dangerous. I said he is in this country illegally. And we're not gonna walk away from anybody,' said ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons.
Governor Healey sees the detainment of the Milford high schooler differently. She says despite her requests, ICE has not provided her with more information.
'Unless ICE has additional information that would substantiate that this individual had some criminal involvement, he should be released,' Healey said.
ICE officials emphasized that they will be arresting all individuals who are in the country illegally that they come across while searching for specific people, regardless of any criminal activity.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
27 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Family of teen arrested on his way to volleyball practice asks immigration officials to release him
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The family of an 18-year-old Massachusetts high school student arrested on his way to volleyball practice pleaded with immigration officials to release him Wednesday. 'I love my son. We need Marcelo back home. It's no family without him,' João Paulo Gomes Pereira said in a video released by his son's attorney. 'We love America. Please, bring my son back.' Marcelo Gomes da Silva, 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 teenager's father, who owns the car Gomes da Silva was driving at the time. 'Like any local law enforcement officer, if you encounter someone that has a warrant or … he's here illegally, we will take action on it,' Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told reporters Monday. Gomes da Silva initially entered the country on a visitor visa and was later issued a student visa that has since lapsed, said his attorney, Robin Nice. She described him as deeply rooted in his community and a dedicated member of both the Milford High School marching band and a band at his church. 'The actions by ICE do not make the community safer,' she said in a statement. 'They just sow fear through the immigrant community.' A federal judge considering Gomes da Silva's request to be released while the immigration case proceeds has given the government until June 16 to respond and has ordered that Gomes da Silva not be moved out of Massachusetts without 48 hours' notice given to the court. A hearing in immigration court is scheduled for Thursday. U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said ICE officers were targeting a 'known public safety threat' and that Gomes da Silva's father 'has a habit of reckless driving at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour through residential areas.' 'While ICE officers never intended to apprehend Gomes da Silva, he was found to be in the United States illegally and subject to removal proceedings, so officers made the arrest,' she said in a statement. The video released Wednesday shows Gomes da Silva's parents and younger siblings in the teen's bedroom. His sister describes watching movies with her brother and enjoying food he cooks for her, including 'chicken nuggets in the air fryer.' 'I miss everything about him,' she said. 'When he gets back, I will give him a really big hug,' Gomes da Silva's younger brother says. 'But ICE, please get him out. Please.' The arrest has sparked outrage among Democratic officials, including Gov. Maura Healey, who demanded information about his location and whether he is being afforded due process. 'They need to let him go,' Healey said in a video posted Tuesday on the social platform X. 'Marcelo belongs in school, not in a detention center.' Other supporters wore white and packed the stands of the high school gymnasium Tuesday night, when the volleyball team dedicated a match to their missing teammate. 'We will continue to pray and fight for our brother,' the team said in an Instagram post ahead of the match.
Washington Post
35 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Crowd of neighbors confront ICE agents who raided a local restaurant
National Neighbors confront ICE agents who raided a local restaurant June 4, 2025 | 5:38 PM GMT When they heard that ICE agents were raiding two local restaurants in San Diego, neighbors came together to confront the officers.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Kristi Noem said undocumented immigrant sent Trump death threat. Police say he was framed.
Kristi Noem said undocumented immigrant sent Trump death threat. Police say he was framed. Milwaukee police quickly suspected a man arrested by ICE was framed in Trump death threat. Then DHS Secretary Kristi Noem accused him of the crime. Show Caption Hide Caption Community rallies against ICE raids after high school student detained Communities in California and Massachusetts protested recent ICE raids that resulted in arrests of restaurant workers and a high school student. A suspect awaiting trial on robbery and battery charges in Wisconsin had a brazen idea to get off scot free: Get rid of his victim, the main witness in his case, by persuading authorities to deport him. So Demetric D. Scott, pretending to be the victim, wrote a series of letters to state and federal officials threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump, prosecutors say. The letters had the return address and name of the victim, Ramón Morales-Reyes, and noted he would "self-deport" after killing the president. The Department of Homeland Security took the bait. One day after receiving the letter, immigration agents arrested Morales-Reyes, 54, after he dropped his daughter off at school in Milwaukee. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem soon blasted out news of the arrest, noting in a press release that a dangerous threat from an undocumented individual had been removed. 'Thanks to our ICE officers, this illegal alien who threatened to assassinate President Trump is behind bars,' Noem said. But the story quickly began to fall apart. Morales-Reyes' attorney and family said he cannot speak or write in English. Within days, Scott admitted his ruse and police searched his cell and found a pen and an envelope containing the Milwaukee ICE office's address and phone number. Scott was charged June 2 with felony witness intimidation, identity theft and two counts of bail jumping. His attorney, Robert Hampton III, declined to comment to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network. But the man he framed is still in federal custody, due to appear at an immigration hearing June 4. And Noem and DHS have yet to retract their false allegations he was behind the threat to kill Trump. As of June 4, Noem's original statement remained online without any correction or additional information. The agency has said he is in the country illegally and has a criminal record so will remain in custody. Morales-Reyes' deportation defense lawyer Cain Oulahan has said he is trying to find ways for Morales-Reyes to receive any form of immigration relief to be protected from deportation while his case is pending. How investigators unearthed the plot to frame Ramón Morales-Reyes Authorities sussed out Scott's scheme in part by listening to calls he made while in jail, court records show. "This dude is a (expletive) illegal immigrant and they just need to pick his (expletive) up," according to a call recording linked to Scott's jail inmate ID that is cited in the complaint. The man later added on the same call: "And the judge will agree cause if he gets picked up by ICE, there won't be a jury trial so they will probably dismiss it that day. That's my plan." On May 22, the day Morales-Reyes was arrested and six days before DHS sent out it's press release, Milwaukee Detective Timothy Keller, who is assigned to the FBI-Milwaukee Joint Task Force, interviewed Morales-Reyes. He learns Morales-Reyes cannot read, write, or fluently speak English. He also notices Morales-Reyes' handwriting is "completely different" from what is on the letters. Keller asks Morales-Reyes who might want to get him in trouble. Morales-Reyes tells him the only person he can think of is Scott. Undocumented crime victim applied for U-visa but could still be deported Morales-Reyes' attorney Kime Abduli described her client as humble, soft-spoken and hard-working. She said he has three children who are U.S. citizens. 'I'm just glad that they have identified who it was or have a better sense of who it was,' said . 'And that Ramon is being cleared of any involvement in this.' Morales-Reyes is in the process of applying for a U-visa, a visa that allows undocumented victims and witnesses of certain crimes to stay in the U.S. for up to four years if they help with the investigation. He applied for the visa as a victim and witness of a robbery Scott is accused of. According to Abduli, his application was delivered to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services over a month ago, and no receipt has been issued by the agency yet. Abduli said this is not uncommon. Due to the significant backlog of cases, it takes about two months to get a receipt and at least seven to eight years to receive the visa. In the meantime, a pending application would not protect Morales-Reyes from deportation. Calls for Kristi Noem and DHS to retract statement about Morales-Reyes Since DHS issued its statement, Morales-Reyes' family has received numerous death threats, according to his lawyers and immigrant advocacy organization Voces de la Frontera. At a news conference May 30, the organization's executive director, Christine Neumann-Ortiz, urged DHS to issue a correction to clear his name. "Every minute that passes without the DHS issuing a correction to the serious allegation represents a real threat and danger to the family," Neumann-Ortiz said. On May 29, DHS said the investigation into the threat against Trump was ongoing and that Morales-Reyes would remain in custody, given his undocumented status and record. Publicly available documents show Morales-Reyes is connected to a hit-and-run incident and an incident of disorderly conduct and property damage related to domestic abuse in 1996. Based on the documents, he received a non-criminal conviction for the disorderly conduct charge, which is usually a ticket. The other charges were dismissed or not prosecuted. What was the robbery case against Scott? The trial Scott was trying to avoid had already gone to trial once, in January 2024 but a judge declared a mistrial when the jury could not reach a decision. A new trial date was set for July 14. The case revolved around a bicycle. On Sept. 26, 2023, Morales-Reyes was riding a bicycle his wife had purchased a few weeks earlier, getting some exercise to help with his diabetes, when a man approached him and started shouting, he said in court. The man attacked Morales-Reyes with a corkscrew and cut him under his left armpit, an altercation captured on a neighbor's Ring doorbell camera. When police arrived, an officer interviewed Morales-Reyes in Spanish, getting a description of the suspect. Police arrested Scott within hours and he was charged with armed robbery, aggravated battery, and second-degree recklessly endangering safety and bail jumping. Scott told police, and later a jury, that the bicycle was actually his and had been stolen days earlier. He said he was trying to get his property back and that Morales-Reyes had threatened him first, when they were out of view from the Ring doorbell. 'I told the truth,' Scott later said in court. 'I told him that I accidentally cut him.' At the time of his arrest, Scott had an open warrant for skipping court in a burglary case. He was charged with breaking into his mother's apartment building and stealing a ladder and other items. He was booked into Milwaukee County Jail on Sept. 26, 2023, and has remained there since on $10,000 bail. A list of past convictions Scott has past criminal convictions that date back to 2000 including battery, disorderly conduct and third-degree sexual assault. In 2010, Scott was charged with felony murder in the death of Steve Allen, according to previous Journal Sentinel reporting. Scott was seen punching and kicking Allen, who was lying on the pavement while demanding the return of property, the Journal Sentinel reported. Allen died two days later. Online court records show Scott was convicted of second-degree recklessly endangering safety in that case and sentenced to five years in prison and five years on extended supervision.
