PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — A judge has issued a 72-hour stay, barring officers from removing 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes from the country.

Immigration officials said police were searching for Gomes’ father during a traffic stop.

But when police stopped the car, which was not speeding at the time, they found Marcelo driving instead.

Gomes, a Brazilian, was brought to an immigration facility in Burlington after ICE learned his student visa expired.

“I didn’t say he was dangerous. I said he’s in this country illegally and we’re not going to walk away from anybody,” said Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE.

Marcelo’s lawyers said the teen has lived in the US since he was five, has no criminal history and is eligible to remain here as an asylum-seeker.

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