Federal immigration agents conducting a traffic stop Sunday arrested a Sewickley resident and Brazil native whose young daughter is undergoing cancer treatment at a Pittsburgh hospital.
A spokeswoman for the family said four Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulled over a car carrying Bruno Guedes da Silva, 38, and his wife, Ana Paula, about 8:30 a.m. near Osborne Elementary School as the couple drove to their jobs at a restaurant.
The spokeswoman, Hadley Haas, said the couple was pulled over at the corner of Beaver and Orchard streets in Glen Osborne, a tiny borough along the Ohio River near Sewickley.
Haas said a black SUV had started following the couple and turned on flashing lights, according to information she got from Ana Paula. When they pulled over, another SUV pulled in front of them, she said.
“Around four men in green vests got out of the cars,” Haas said she was told. “They did not ask for any paperwork. They just said they were with (ICE) and they were going to take Bruno with them.”
Haas said the agents asked Ana Paula if the couple had children at home. When she said yes, the agents said “she should go home to her children,” Haas said.
An ICE spokesperson on Monday confirmed the arrest and said Guedes da Silva was wanted on a felony warrant for charges of sale or transfer of firearms and unsworn falsification to authorities.
As of Sunday night, Guedes da Silva was being held in Northern Regional Correctional Facility and Jail near Moundsville, W.Va.
U.S. Rep Chris Deluzio, D-Fox Chapel, said on X his office was in touch with the family. He wrote that Guedes da Silva has a valid work authorization, a Social Security number and a driver’s license.
“Once again, we need answers to basic questions about why the Trump Administration is trying to remove him from the country,” Deluzio posted.
The ICE spokesperson downplayed the significance of Guedes da Silva’s work permit.
“He was previously arrested by the Border Patrol on May 1, 2022, after he illegally entered the United States and was released into the U.S. by the Biden administration,” the spokesperson said. “Employment authorization does not confer any type of legal status in the United States. Guedes da Silva remains in ICE custody, pending immigration proceedings.”
‘She’s really attached to her dad’
Haas, 53, of Glen Osborne, a former Democratic candidate for the state House, said neighbors gathered after Guedes da Silva’s arrest and were assigned roles to help the family. Haas was designated as the family’s spokesperson.
Haas said the family came to the U.S. in 2022 to escape a “dangerous situation.”
She did not have further information.
Haas said Ana Paula, who speaks only Portuguese, was able to talk with her husband while he was being processed at the ICE field office in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood.
The circumstances of the situation involving Guedes da Silva echo those of another immigration arrest in Pittsburgh in December.
On Dec. 17, ICE arrested Darwin Alexander Davila-Perez, a Nicaraguan national targeted after authorities said he tried to buy a gun.
Authorities said Davila-Perez claimed to be a U.S. citizen when trying to buy a gun from a licensed dealer in Western Pennsylvania, according to an affidavit by Matthew Kreush, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations in Pittsburgh.
Davila-Perez was charged with assaulting an ICE officer during a scuffle in the city’s Mt. Washington neighborhood.
It’s unclear how the agents communicated with Ana Paula. She has used a phone translator with neighbors and the Quaker Valley School District’s interpreter with the school, Haas said.
The couple’s 6-year-old daughter, Maria, is undergoing treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma for a second time.
The Mayo Clinic describes the cancer as “highly treatable and often curable.”
Haas said the family has not told Maria about her father’s arrest for fear it will negatively affect her chemotherapy treatments.
“She was initially having a lot of pain at the chemo site,” Haas said. “She’s really attached to her dad. Everybody said he treats her like a princess, and they really didn’t want her to be worried about him right now.”
Maria is a student at Osborne Elementary School. Haas described Maria as a “sweet, spunky girl that’s grateful for everything.” She regularly wears a T-shirt to class that says “God has big plans for me” on it, Haas said.
“She’s a really special, sweet girl, and she needs her dad,” Haas said.
Maria’s teachers previously raised $2,400 for the girl’s medical treatments. Parents of her classmates have been cooking meals for the family as Maria prepared to enter chemotherapy.
The couple’s son, Breno, is in 11th grade at Quaker Valley High School.
Local police unaware
Addie Sochats, 46, of Sewickley said her children attend school with Maria. She organized a GoFundMe for the family Sunday evening to help with Maria’s medical bills, along with rent and other costs of living.
Haas said Ana Paula has not been able to work as much with Maria’s ongoing health problems. Bruno’s arrest leaves an even bigger hole in the family’s budget.
“You can help. You don’t need to know how, just do something,” Sochats said. “That’s where the GoFundMe came in. That’s something we can immediately do because we know there will be costs associated to this.”
As of Monday night, the GoFundMe had raised more than $74,000.
“We will never forget what everyone is doing for us,” Ana Paula said in a statement through Haas.
Sewickley police Chief Dave Mazza said the department, which patrols Glen Osborne, was unaware of any ICE operations taking place in the area. The department does not have an agreement with ICE.
“They’re a federal agency,” Mazza said. “They don’t need permission to be here. We were not on scene, part of it or aware of it.”
Mazza said, to his knowledge, this is the first ICE arrest to occur in the department’s jurisdiction. He said the department has limited information about Guedes da Silva’s arrest.
“I don’t know if they’re Sewickley residents, if they’re within my jurisdiction at this time,” Mazza said. “But we’re here to help anybody and everybody. So if that were the case and they are residents, we would have no issue doing welfare checks and making sure they were OK.”
Community steps up to help
Sochats said many community members have reached out to help Guedes da Silva’s family. Some have offered to drive Ana Paula and Maria to chemotherapy treatments at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
“Ana Paula is afraid to drive, and Maria’s first treatment is today, so my friend drove her up there,” Sochats said.
A letter sent Monday to Quaker Valley parents and guardians from the district outlined the process if nonlocal law enforcement agencies, including ICE, were to come to one of the district’s schools.
District administrators and police officers are trained to follow established procedures should a situation occur.
“Without proper legal documentation, school officials will not provide access to the building, to students or staff, or a release of student records. Federal law protects the privacy of student information, and the district does not disclose records unless legally required to do so,” the letter said.
“Our Quaker Valley School District Police Officers work in close partnership with building administrators to ensure that all interactions with nonlocal law enforcement are handled in accordance with district policy, state and federal law, and established safety protocols.”
If a lawful warrant or court order is presented, the district will comply as required by law while minimizing disruption to the school day and protect the dignity of anyone involved, the letter said.
Sochats and Haas said the school is working with the family.
“I think Ana Paula is just trying to be strong for Maria, and Maria obviously has a huge challenge and a huge struggle ahead of her, and this is just one more thing they don’t need,” Sochats said. “No one needs any of this.”