On a quiet Saturday morning in early June, Marcelo Gomes da Silva was heading to volleyball practice when ICE agents pulled over his car. In moments, the 18-year-old honor student found himself in federal custody, not because he was the target, but because agents were looking for his father. Marcelo, a high school senior in Milford, Massachusetts, had overstayed a visa he received as a child.
He was taken to a detention center, locked in a cramped, windowless room with over 30 adult men. There were no beds, just concrete floors and thin aluminum sheets. He wasn’t allowed to shower. He could brush his teeth twice. And when he asked for a Bible, guards ignored him.
“I just kept praying,” Marcelo said. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
In those six days, Marcelo never stopped turning to his faith. Denied scripture, he still shared verses from memory. He comforted men who broke down crying. He translated legal documents for detainees who didn’t understand what they were being told to sign. “Some of them had babies, ten-year-old kids. I would have to watch people cry. No one deserves to be down there,” he said.
Marcelo didn’t just survive those days; he served. His faith became more than personal comfort. It was a source of strength for others. In a place designed to humiliate and isolate, his worship became an act of resistance.
Back in Milford, his detention sparked outrage. Students organized walkouts. Teammates wore his number. Faith leaders and neighbors rallied for his release. Even the governor demanded answers. “Marcelo never should have been arrested or detained, and it certainly didn’t make us safer,” said Governor Maura Healey.
After six days in detention, Marcelo was released on bond. Cameras captured his first words as he stepped into freedom: “All glory goes to God.”
But Marcelo’s story doesn’t end there. His case is still pending, and his heart remains with those still behind bars. “If I’m the only one who got out,” he said, “I lost. I want to help everyone else still down there.”
His story is a reminder: faith isn’t something held, it’s something lived. Marcelo prayed in a cage. He followed the call to love his neighbors—even in a detention center.
