https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/25/metro/marcelo-gomes-state-union/?s_campaign=breakingnews:newsletter
Milford teen Marcelo Gomes leaves State of the Union after targeted DHS tweet
Gomes, who was arrested by ICE last May while on the way to volleyball practice, attended the event as a guest of Representative Seth Moulton.
WASHINGTON – From the visitor’s gallery, Marcelo Gomes da Silva looked down at the House floor, attentively watching President Trump deliver his State of the Union speech. A guest of Representative Seth Moulton, the 19-year-old from Milford was overjoyed to be sharing a room with the nation’s most powerful politicians.
“I truly hope that one day I’ll be here and I’ll be a representative, and then hopefully a senator, as well. That’s the dream,” he said.
Wearing a light gray suit, Gomes looked worlds apart from the day he met Moulton for the first time last June, outside of the ICE holding facility in Burlington where he had spent six days detained in volleyball shorts and crocs.
This week, in Washington for the first time, he met with other members of Congress and talked about his experience in detention and his desire to end ICE operations that target people who, like him, don’t have a criminal record.
As he watched the speech, the teen looked for Moulton on the House floor but couldn’t find him among the sea of politicians; he was impressed by Representative Al Green’s protest of a racist video posted on Trump’s social media account recently portraying the Obamas as apes; he didn’t agree with Trump’s statement about low inflation; and he felt dehumanized by being called an “illegal alien.” Still, he planned to stay and listen to the entire address.
Soon after standing up to applaud the US men’s hockey team, who Trump honored during the speech, Gomes was escorted out of the chamber by Moulton’s chief of staff Neesha Suarez.
Suarez and other congressional staff had seen an online post by the Department of Homeland Security, calling out Democrats who brought immigrants as guests to the State of the Union, singling out Moulton and Gomes by name.
“Today, some Democrats in Congress are planning to bring illegal aliens as guests to the State of the Union. Once again, they are putting illegal aliens above the safety of American citizens,” DHS officials wrote. Gomes “is an illegal alien who has no right to be in our nation. We are committed to enforcing the law and fighting for the arrest, detention, and removal of aliens like him.”
DHS officials also named two other guests, invited by Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and Senator John Hickenlooper of Colorado.
Suarez, who drove Gomes to Washington, was concerned about the heavy law enforcement presence while the teen was alone in the House gallery without his phone. Gomes watched the rest of the speech in Moulton’s office.
“I can’t believe they still want to chase after me,” Gomes said. “I’m just disappointed in the ignorance. It’s really inhumane, and there’s a lack of empathy.”
Originally from Brazil, Gomes first arrived in Milford when he was six-years-old. Along with his parents, he entered the United States legally with a visa that later expired. After his detention, he applied for asylum.
His exit from the State of the Union, less than halfway through Trump’s address, reminded him of his vulnerable status in the country.
“Things are going so good, and then all of a sudden you remember that you could get taken at any time,” Gomes said. “I truly believe everything in my life is in God’s hands. If he wants me to be here and work for the people and help immigrants as much as I can, I’ll be here. But if he doesn’t, then I’ll go back.”
Despite the disappointment, Gomes was calm. He called his mother, texted friends, and checked social media. When Moulton met Gomes back in his office, he told Gomes to “keep fighting,” and invoked John Lewis, the late representative and civil rights activist from Georgia, by saying Gomes was “making good trouble.”
“We’re obviously concerned about it, but sometimes in America, you have to do brave things,” Moulton told the Globe. ”Sometimes when you really believe in freedom, you actually have to risk it... sometimes you have to fight hardest for your country when your country lets you down."
Moulton, along with Representative Jake Auchincloss, greeted Gomes when he was released last June from ICE’s Burlington facility. About a week before, as a high school junior, Gomes was driving to volleyball practice when he was stopped and detained by ICE.
Hundreds in Milford immediately protested his arrest, carrying signs demanding the agency target criminals instead of a student who took honors classes, participated in varsity sports, and played the drums in his church’s band.
ICE officials at the time said they were looking for Gomes’ father, alleging a history of speeding through residential neighborhoods reaching 100 miles per hour. Records show his father ran a stop sign once in 2023.
Flooded by reporters following his release in early June, Gomes was clear about his new purpose: From now on, he would do everything in his power to support immigrants unfairly detained by ICE.
Prior to detention, he wanted to pursue a career as a plumber. Now, he’s headed to college in the fall and plans to pursue a career in public service.
During his two days walking around the Capitol, Gomes met with various Massachusetts politicians, including a private meeting with Senator Elizabeth Warren, a quick hallway chat with Senator Ed Markey, and brief introduction to Representative Jim McGovern.
He also met with Representative Gabe Amo of Rhode Island, a highlight for Gomes. As Gomes walked into Amo’s office, the representative said the teen looked like a congressman. The two discussed Gomes’ future in college and in politics.
“I’m so eager to start my career,” Gomes said. “I love running around everywhere.”
Walking around the Capitol with Moulton, Gomes met Representative Troy Nehls of Texas, who was smoking a cigar and wearing a tie bearing Trump’s face. At first, the tie made Gomes apprehensive. When Moulton asked Gomes to tell Nehls his story, the teen was scared the Republican would tell him he should be deported.
Far from it, Nehls listened to the teen and welcomed him to Washington. Gomes was relieved. That is his goal, to use his story to reach to the other side with empathy.
Between meeting politicians and giving media interviews Tuesday afternoon, Gomes received a message from an ICE officer through a phone application he uses to check in with the agency under its supervision program.
“My ICE officer doesn’t believe I’m here. I need to send them a photo of the invitation,” he said, reading a message from the application BI SmartLink, used by ICE to track people previously detained.
“They can search up on Google where I am,” Gomes said. The messages didn’t faze him.
Under the Capitol Rotunda during a tour Monday, Gomes looked at Suarez and Moulton’s intern Charlotte Selby and said, “You guys get to see this all the time, like anytime you want?”
Walking around the 96-foot diameter domed, circular room, Gomes was amazed by the historical paintings and sculptures.
Among the statues and busts of historical figures, Gomes spent a minute longer observing Martin Luther King Jr.’s. “He stood up for oppressed people, and he had Christian morals,” the teen said.
While listening to Trump during the State of the Union address, the man sitting next to Gomes supported the president. He heard Gomes telling his story to other guests and asked: “You don’t blame Donald Trump for that, do you? It’s not his fault, he would never want a kid like you to be taken by ICE,” Gomes recalled.
“To be honest, I actually do blame him,” he replied.
If he could, Gomes said he would want to have a conversation with Trump. He’d tell him that family separation policies do not align with Christian values.
“I’m disappointed about having to leave,” he told his immigration attorney Robin Nice on speakerphone after the State of the Union was over. “It’s just a reminder that I can get taken at any given time.”
Nice reminded Gomes that he has followed every rule since his release from detention. He’s not a danger to any community, and he’s not a flight risk, she said.
“I read this as just foolish, hateful bullying,” she said. “Kudos for you again for being brave and for speaking out.”
Marcela Rodrigues can be reached at marcela.rodrigues@globe.com.
- This comment has been blocked.
- They are out in force this morning swearing fealty to their orange god.
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- Matthew Denice, the Milford Man that the Democrats and Boston Globe want you to forget.
- Little Syd - nope, just you want to make him the face of every person coming into the country to become a citizen. Your hate defines you.
- Every immigrant here is not driving drunk. Thank you for your one example.
- Gomes will get my vote!
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- @123042, your post reads better in the original Russian.
- I’ve lived in this state my entire life. Never been arrested. I’ve always paid my taxes. Explain to me why that kid deserves to get an invite to the state of the union over me. Talk about a pawn…
- A pawn??? This kid is a victim of a deplorable fascist and racist administration. I hope he does run for office one day.
As for your invite? I am sure there is a KKK or Turning Point event that would love to hear you cry about your white privilege. - They took away his constitutional rights and locked him up in a cell with 70 other men for six days with nothing other than an aluminum foil blanket, and he still loves his country and speaks with grace and dignity.
Explain to me why Steve Bannon got pardoned. Explain to me why Roger Stone got pardoned. Explain to me why the January 6th insurrectionists got pardoned and then hired by ICE to shoot American citizens in the street and to arrest kids like this one.
- Gomes' parents decided to put their child in this position by entering the country illegally. He should not have been allowed into the chamber. Shame on Moulton for disrespecting our governmental procedures.
- "Gomes' parents decided to put their child in this position by entering the country illegally."
Uhhh, you need to retake the remedial reading comprehension course that you flunked. As the story makes clear, they entered the country legally.
"Shame on Moulton for disrespecting our governmental procedures."
Uhhhh, which " governmental procedure" did he "disrespect" or violate? - I'm more enraged about Republicans applauding Trump's fake news and lies and racism and conspiracy theories all night like the depraved zombies they are. They'd probably applaud Trump if he announced he murdered someone on 5th Ave
- magas and thier ice are beyond disgusting
- Exactly, treat them the way DA Maid Marian Ryan treats them when they rape their pregnant teen daughter in a shelter owned and operated by Maura Healey - put them in an uber and send them another shelter in another mass county - all fixed.
- Yep, got the feeling - really a well-founded belief - that jealousy abounds among many of the "left behind" native born, unwilling to work as hard and loathe to take advantage of what this land of liberty offers. Some MAGAS actually revel in the cruelty Trump displayed last night. That's sad.
Most immigrants are young, or family oriented with a willingness to brave leaving home countries where class and violence keep them down. So instead of stigmatizing them, we should congratulate them.
Time for immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship, especially for DACA kids like Marcelo Gomes. White supremacy is a cancer eating away at what America truly offers the world: Liberty and opportunity!
- One of the most powerful moments of President Trump’s speech last night was when Eric Slover stood with a walker due to his horrific leg injuries he sustained during the raid to capture Maduro last month.
He almost died for our country. President Trump awarded him the Medal of Honor, and the Democrats refused to stand.
They refused to stand for an American hero in a walker who probably wanted to sit, but still stood up despite his excruciating leg pain.
Democrats hate America. We are an occupied country, and we are occupied by millions of evil people on the Left who have no moral clarity.
It’s not even a debate anymore.
Democrats embody the worst of the worst.- "One of the most powerful moments of President Trump’s speech last night was when Eric Slover stood with a walker due to his horrific leg injuries he sustained during the raid to capture Maduro last month. "
Why was he in Venezuela anyway? We have no beef with them, except for the false one that Trump trumped-up.
"Ignore"... - Funny thing is Trump would have no qualms about stealing money from Slover, as he did when he kept the funds raised for that fraudulent nonprofit he claimed was to support veterans.
Giving awards to make headlines is easy; what else has Trump done to show his support for those American heroes you claim Dem’s hate? He’s cut VA funding, has openly said he thinks soldiers captured are losers and only poor/stupid people join the military (or couldn’t find a doctor to write a note because of his supposed bone spurs),, didn’t want wounded soldiers in his vanity parade because he didn’t want to ruin the look….should I go on?
The irony is too, that unless you are some billionaire Trump could scam some $$ from, he’d probably think you were a loser too.
- "“You don’t blame Donald Trump for that, do you? It’s not his fault, he would never want a kid like you to be taken by ICE,” Gomes recalled.
“To be honest, I actually do blame him,” he replied. "
It's refreshing to hear common sense coming from this kid. We certainly don't get any from the MAGA crowd, nor from this out-of-control clown car administration.
(And whatever MAGAt asked the kid this question is out of his freaking skull.)- ICE should have arrested this illegal and deported him back to his s***hole country.
- Boston Globe, championing the wrong person, again.
- Better than Republicans championing white supremacists and Putin and right wing oligarchs and the Proud Boys
- I'd pick an illegal immigrant that's employed over an American collecting welfare any day of the week.
- Applying for asylum? From what, thong bikinis on Ipanema Beach? Already trying to commit immigration fraud.
- Who gives a crap, The Trump inflation from the Trump tariffs is destroying this country
- Ah you would focus on bikinis, wouldn't you little magat.
(Rhetorical.)
- Great story; I’m proud of this kid and I support ICE, albeit wish they wouldn’t puck up non-criminal aliens. As a 6th district denizen I also wish Seth would do a better job representing us instead of playing partisan games. But I do applaud him making this kid his guest at the SOTU address.
- "I support ICE.."
Why? Why would anyone support an out-of-control, under-trained militia full of people who tried to overthrow their country?? - You support the ICE Gestapo murdering Americans and terrorizing them as a pretext for the ICE Gestapo rigging and meddling in elections and making Trump dictator for life so he can turn this country into a fascist military racist Republican Police State oligarchy of the 1%?
- That’s some great guidance counseling provided free of charge from the us govt!!
- "ICE officials at the time said they were looking for Gomes’ father, alleging a history of speeding through residential neighborhoods reaching 100 miles per hour. Records show his father ran a stop sign once in 2023."
This the scary part. DHS can/does fabricate whatever reasons it wants and that can apply to any of us, not just immigrants. This is EXACTLY what happens in N. Korea, China, Russia, and other authoritarian states. We have a Bill of Rights - Congress needs to find some bells and step up and strip these powers. Unfortunately the SJC is pro-dictator. - Asylum from Brazil what B.S.
- Why?
- Never forget, Droopy Don —- aka “Dear Leader” to the ignorant cult —- is so stupid he believes that claiming “asylum” means that someone was in an insane asylum. For real.
- There isn’t enough hate for the evil 47 and his band of butchers, pedo protectors, the GOP, and killers under sex fiend Kristi Noem! I hope they all rot in eternity in the deepest recesses of hell!
- “You don’t blame Donald Trump for that, do you? It’s not his fault, he would never want a kid like you to be taken by ICE...” These people are sick and delusional. Trump ran on this issue.
- Maybe Moulton should spend more time worrying about the billions of our tax dollars from the state he represents that was spent to house and feed illegal immigrants as well as the millions in SNAP fraud - all of which could have been spent on housing, education, mass transit...
- Why don't you blame Trump and the federal government for declaring war on Blue States and defunding them? You can't really come back from the federal govt screwing you over left and right
- "Maybe Moulton should spend more time worrying about the billions of our tax dollars from the state he represents"
Maybe Mike Johnson should spend more time convening Congress, so Moulton can do his job.
- It’s all about image,for this Administration
Made for TV reality show - Our government's treatment of this young man is so plainly shameful, I don't know what to say.
- And Magas think it's a good look, even as Trump's approval ratings in every category drop and drop.
I'm imagining a wipeout for the R's in November.
- Gomes is a true American.
Trump is a true American criminal- Exactly. Gomes is not a 34-time convicted felon, and not a likely pedophile.
- What a sad state of affairs !
- This Administration actually thinks their behavior os makng them look good. 70% over Americans now say they are against Trump on immigration.
- MAGAs claiming to be Christian and American being unchristian and tough on hard working immigrants while their immoral PDF file felon and Capital insurrectionist wrecker speaks. Detestable.
- Hardworking? He's 19 and I'd like to see his W2
- Gomes was brought here when he was 6. He had no choice but to break our country’s immigration laws because of his parents’ decision to overstay. Ok.
He’s what, 18, 19 years old now? Leave him be and deport the lawbreaking parents. The young man can stay and go through the proper process to become legal. Not so much for the mother and father. If Gomes wants to stay with his parents, he makes that choice. - I don't understand why no Democrat is bringing up the legislation that Sen Lankford led on immigration reform. They tried to pass it before the election but Pres Voldemort wanted to run on the issue, well he ran on it. Why not pass it now? Democrats should be saying again and again - we have legislation to address this - put it to a vote!
Republicans do not want to pass the legislation because fixing this problem is not the plan for Republicans. They want to keep this as a problem for two reasons. First, because the cruelty is the point. Second, they can distract everyone with this while they gut your healthcare, take away your rights, increase your taxes, and run up the deficit.
I don't know if everyone saw the story on Karen Newton - 65 from the UK - on a vacation here. They got detained at the border trying to get into Canada from the US. There was a problem with their paperwork - she said fine, we have the funds, we will fly go back to the UK immediately. NOPE! Detained in ICE Custody for over 40 days. Why? BECAUSE THE CRUELTY IS THE POINT. And this is why the republicans absolutely have no leg to stand on when they say they are good christians. This is pure evil.- Right now the Democrats don't even have the power to bring legislation up for discussion in a committee let alone a vote on the entire floor. Which is why the midterms are some important. Once they get back a majority in the House they can actually bring up this kind of legislation and get it to the floor for a real vote.
- @Salty
That may be true that they don't have the power to bring up legislation, however, they can offer legislation that would box in the Republicans because the leadership has not offer one legislation to fix the issue. On top of that Congress, both aisles, were able to restore the funding that President tried to strip out without consultation. It is quite telling when you have Budget Director Vought saying that he cannot get Congressional rescission (that was promised in January) through.
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