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A federal immigration spokesperson has blasted what an undocumented high school student said about his six days in custody at a Massachusetts facility as “blatant lies.”The spokesperson was reacting to comments made by Marcelo Gomes Da Silva since he was released on bond. The 18-year-old from Milford was taken into custody by immigration agents on his way to his school’s volleyball practice last month, and released amid outcry from elected officials and the community.Gomes Da Silva spoke extensively to reporters after his release, saying, “At the end of the day, this place, it’s not a good spot to be. Nobody should be in here.” He’s later spoken in interviews, telling NBC News he thinks it’s likely he’ll be able to stay in the U.S. — his visa expired when he was 7.But the Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson reiterated Sunday that Gomes Da Silva is in the country illegally, and said he “has peddled blatant lies regarding his treatment while in custody in Burlington.”The spokesperson, who gave the statement without giving their name, said that Gomes Da Silva got three meals a day, including “fresh catered sandwiches,” got “prompt off-site medical attention, despite no issues being identified,” and that the teenager thanked an officer and said, “everyone is so nice.”The statement also said that two members of Congress, Reps. Seth Moulton and Jake Auchincloss, toured the Burlington facility after Gomes Da Silva was released and had no concerns about it.However, both congressmen said the opposite to NBC10 Boston and other news outlets after their tour.“The facilities that Congressman Moulton and I saw are not facilities that anybody should be spending six days in,” Auchincloss said. “We know these officers are trying to uphold federal law and operate professionally, but they’re not being supported by this administration. Instead of working with Congress to resource it appropriately... he’s politicizing it, trying to sow fear amongst Americans.”“We spent quite a good deal of time,” Moulton said. “We went to the control center where they oversee the whole facility and asked to go in and see the cells where people are held. We saw a handful of cells, each one of them with a half dozen ore more people in them. They had the Mylar blankets that Marcelo described just to be able to keep warm or sleep in. There were no windows, it’s very difficult to even understand the time of day. I think they get one time a day where they’re able to make any phone calls, and Marcelo said there was not enough food. They were distributing food when we went in. As Jake said, it’s not conditions that anyone would want to live in for more than a few hours.”Asked about those comments, the ICE spokesperson said the agency addressed that in a prior statement and noted the Burlington facility was not intended to keep people long-term, but and that a court had ordered the agency not to move Gomes Da Silva out of the Burlington facility.His lawyers had sought the court order keeping Gomes Da Silva in Burlington, they’ve previously told NBC10 Boston, so as not to compromise his right to due process ahead of a hearing in Chelmsford.NBC10 Boston reached out to representatives for Auchincloss and Moulton, as well as to a lawyer for Gomes Da Silva.Moulton confirmed in a statement Sunday that he has concerns about holding people overnight at the Burlington facility.“Putting words in the mouths of federal lawmakers is nothing compared to detaining an 18 year-old for six days on a concrete floor without a window, so I guess that’s what we should expect,” he said. “As I said both before and after touring the facility, Burlington was designed for temporary holding and processing only, and it is grossly inappropriate for detaining anyone overnight, let alone an 18-year old honors student. Obviously ICE needs continued, aggressive oversight here and everywhere.”The 18-year-old was taken into custody, ICE reiterated Sunday, while looking for his father, also in the country without documentation, because he’d been reported to law enforcement for reckless driving, including reaching 100 mph in residential zones. The younger Gomes Da Silva told NBC News, “They could have at least thought a little bit harder to make up a lie.”Gomes Da Silva met with Gov. Maura Healey this week, and she said she gave the teenager a rosary blessed by the pope.Healey said in a statement, “even after ICE snatched him off the street with no notice and no explanation, even after six days in a detention center when he should have been in school, he told me: “I find beauty in humanity, that people always find optimism, even though they are in a horrible place.”Also Sunday, ICE released a statement from acting Director Todd Lyons reacting to recent comments by Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu — the agency didn’t specify which comments.“Politicians like Mayor Wu and Governor Healey have loudly touted lawlessness over law and order,” Lyons said. “Their prioritization of criminal aliens in communities across the state should speak volumes to their constituents. As these elected officials welcome those flouting national laws, ICE’s brave law enforcement officers protecting public safety will continue to perform the job they refuse to do.”Healey shared a new statement in reply on Sunday.“As a former Attorney General, public safety is always a top priority for me. ICE should be focusing on those with criminal backgrounds, like they said they were going to do. Instead, they’re doubling down on their arrest of Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, a high school student who came here when he was 6 years old, has been a model member of his community, and has no criminal record. It just doesn’t make sense and it doesn’t make anyone safer,” Healey said.More on Marcelo Gomes Da Silva's ICE detentionImmigrationJun 2ICE detained Mass. high school student while searching for his father, officials sayImmigrationJun 6Lawmakers denounce deplorable conditions at ICE facility where Milford teen was heldImmigrationJun 11‘I was in complete shock': Milford teen describes ICE arrest in exclusive interview
