14-year-old Brazilian girl detained by ICE, federal judge orders immediate return to Massachusetts
Mar 11, 2026·Location: Marlboro, MA
Country of origin: Brazil

A 14-year-old Brazilian girl with an expired visitor visa was detained by ICE agents on March 11 in a parking lot outside Bethel Presbyterian Church in Marlboro, Massachusetts, after a car was pulled over. Her attorney stated she was with her U.S. citizen brothers, though DHS disputed this account, claiming she was with two Brazilian men suspected of gang ties with no familial relationship to her. ICE said the men's vehicle was connected to an alleged attempted home invasion in Walpole. The girl was taken to the JFK federal building in Boston for 10 hours, then transported overnight to a children's detention facility in New York. At a hearing, Federal Judge Leo T. Sorokin expressed concern about the detention and overnight transfer, stating it was the first time in his 22 years on the bench that he had seen agents detain a juvenile solely because no appropriate person was available to release her to. He ordered her immediate return to Massachusetts, and she was reunited with her maternal aunt, a U.S. citizen, at the JFK building in Boston.
Timeline
Sources
- 14-year-old Massachusetts girl detained by ICE in Marlboro returned to family after judge
- CBS News
- Despite assuring judge otherwise, gov’t moves to deport Mass. teen, attorney says
WCVB·Mar 12, 2026·archived copy
- 14-year-old girl detained by federal agents is released on judge's orders
- The girl detained by ICE in Marlborough is reunited with family, though she now faces deportation
Boston Globe·Mar 12, 2026·archived copy
- MSN
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