Overview
- The teen was detained Tuesday in a Marlborough parking lot by HSI/ICE, taken to Boston’s JFK Federal Building, then transferred overnight to an Office of Refugee Resettlement facility in New York.
- U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin ordered her brought back and released to her aunt in Weymouth, questioning the out‑of‑state transfer and the basis for taking her into custody.
- After the return, the government served a notice to appear initiating removal proceedings, despite a federal lawyer’s earlier statement in court that there was no intent to remove her.
- DHS says agents encountered the girl with two men it identified as Brazilian nationals suspected of gang ties and linked to a Walpole home‑invasion investigation; the girl’s attorney disputes the gang claims and notes no violent charges.
- The 14‑year‑old, a Brazilian national who entered on a 2019 visitor visa, has no criminal history; her mother is deceased, her father is not involved, she had been living with U.S. citizen brothers, and Marlborough Police said HSI led the operation without local transport by police.