Sewickley man whose daughter is battling cancer arrested by ICE

A Sewickley man whose daughter is battling cancer was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Family representatives said Bruno Guedes da Silva was arrested Sunday morning while on his way to work at the corner of Beaver Road and Orchard Street in Glen Osborne. They said a black SUV pulled him over and agents in green vests took him without asking for any documentation.

In a statement, ICE said Guedes da Silva was wanted on a warrant for felony charges of sale or transfer of firearms and unsworn falsification to authorities. Congressman Chris Deluzio said Guedes da Silva had a work authorization, but ICE said that employment authorization doesn't confer any legal status.

Family representatives said he and his wife were seeking asylum from Brazil. ICE said he came to the United States in 2022.    

"This is the last thing somebody in that position needs, to have their life interrupted in that way, unilaterally with very little options," said immigration attorney Joseph Murphy, who is not working with Guedes da Silva. 

This is the latest ICE arrest in the Pittsburgh region. Last month, Oakmont father Jose Flores was arrested while getting ready to take his daughter to school. He was released days later.

Murphy believes the idea is to arrest fathers and cut off income to the family.

"I believe the thinking is to send dad back and maybe they will follow him back home. It also has the convenient effect of avoiding the kids in cages problem because you don't have to detain the family," Murphy said.

Murphy says the administration appears to be trying to turn back the clock and detain people now when they should have been detained at the border.

"From a sociological perspective, it's chaos," Murphy said.

Guedes da Silva is at a detention facility in West Virginia. A family representative said he last spoke with his wife while he was still in Pittsburgh. His wife is now taking care of the couple's children, including a daughter battling Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Murphy said it's becoming hard to give clients advice on what they should be doing to prevent being detained.

"The laws seem to change every couple of weeks," Murphy said. "Advice I gave people three months ago is no longer good. This is a big problem." 

Sewickley Borough Council has a meeting on Tuesday night, and people plan to attend to voice their concerns on the situation.