13-Year-Old Migrant Minor Detained by ICE and Transferred to Facility in Virginia, Far from His Family

ICE Detains Migrant Minor

Arrest Without Immediate Explanation

Mother Demands Legal Release

A 13-year-old boy from Brazil who migrated to the United States was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and transferred to a detention center in Virginia, hundreds of miles from his home in Massachusetts. His mother reportedly went several days without knowing why he had been detained, according to local media.

Immigration lawyers representing the boy’s family said they have been pursuing an asylum application in the U.S. since 2021.

On Tuesday, the family’s attorneys appeared before a federal judge in Massachusetts demanding an explanation for the minor’s detention.

The judge ordered ICE to legally justify the boy’s arrest or release him on bond, according to CNN reports.

Migrant Minor Detained by ICE

Arthur Berto, a 13-year-old Brazilian minor living in Everett, Massachusetts, was arrested by local police and transferred without notice to an ICE detention center. His mother only found out after he called her from the facility.

A… pic.twitter.com/drfBLRvLKV

— Jay Fonseca (@jayfonsecapr) October 15, 2025

So far, it remains unclear whether the agency has complied with the court order or whether the boy remains in custody without a hearing.

The teenager was initially detained last Thursday by Everett police at a bus stop near his home.

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According to his mother, Josiele Berto, the boy was on his way to a friend’s house when he was arrested.

Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria stated that police acted after receiving an alert about a teenager allegedly planning to bring a weapon to school to harm another 12-year-old student.

When searched by officers, the boy was found carrying a knife, which led to his arrest.

DeMaria said in a press conference that the police action likely prevented what he described as a “potentially serious incident.”

However, he clarified that local police do not collaborate with federal immigration authorities, distancing his department from the ICE detention of migrant minors.

ICE Took Custody Before the Mother Arrived

This is the story of how ICE kidnapped a 13 year old Massachusetts child, detained him at Virginia facility without notifying the parents.

No one is safe from the Trump Police State. pic.twitter.com/gDCWau6O30

— Maine (@TheMaineWonk) October 13, 2025

Everett Police Chief Paul Strong reported that the child was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon.

He added that the fingerprint database automatically notified ICE, which intervened immediately and took custody of the minor.

According to the mother, local police told her she could pick up her son after the arrest, but when she arrived, he had already been handed over to ICE.

Chief Strong said this was the first time ICE had directly detained a minor from his department.

Berto and her attorney, Andrew Lattarulo, told CNN they went days without receiving clear information about the boy’s whereabouts or the reasons for his detention.

The mother only learned where her son was through occasional phone calls he made from two different detention centers—one in Massachusetts and another in Virginia.

DHS Claims the Boy Was a Public Safety Threat

The minor told his mother he cried after being isolated and far from his family for the first time. “He was desperate, saying ICE had taken him away,” Berto said in remarks reported by CNN.

In response to the controversy, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defended the detention, stating in a message shared on social media that the boy “posed a threat to public safety.”

The DHS alleged that the teenager had “a long criminal record, including violent assault with a dangerous weapon, battery, trespassing, and property destruction.”

The agency also claimed the boy carried a firearm and a knife between five and seven inches long at the time of his arrest, though this information has not been confirmed by Everett police.

The case remains under judicial review in Massachusetts, while the family continues to demand transparency and due process from the federal government regarding the ICE detention of migrant minors in the United States.