Marcelo Gomes Da Silva has lived in Milford, Massachusetts since he was six years old. He’s a beloved classmate, a talented musician and athlete, and a bright young man with a future.

On what should have been a joyful graduation weekend, Marcelo was taken by ICE, detained in handcuffs and chains, and held away from his family and community—all because he was in the wrong car at the wrong time.

Marcelo was not the target of the investigation. Yet he was pulled out of his life, arrested in front of friends, and is now being held in an immigration detention center.

His only “crime” is being brought here as a child and growing up in the only home he has ever known.

We are heartbroken and outraged. Marcelo is a student, not a threat. Detaining him is cruel, unnecessary, and traumatizing for him, his siblings, his girlfriend, his classmates, and his teachers.

We call on ICE to release Marcelo immediately and allow him to remain in the community he has been a part of for over a decade. We urge Governor Healey and all local leaders to stand firm in defending our youth from these inhumane policies.

Marcelo deserves a cap and gown, not chains.

Free Marcelo now. Let him come home.

Photo: Brian Snyder/Reuters