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Harvard Visiting Professor Detained by ICE After Boston Synagogue BB-Gun Incident Agrees to Voluntary Departure

05:56 PM, 12/05/2025
Harvard Visiting Professor Detained by ICE After Boston Synagogue BB-Gun Incident Agrees to Voluntary Departure

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed ICE detained Carlos Portugal Gouvêa, a visiting Harvard Law School professor, in connection with a BB-gun incident outside a Boston-area synagogue. He was arrested Oct. 2 and pleaded guilty on Nov. 13 to illegal use of an air rifle; other charges were dismissed. The State Department revoked his J-1 visa, and DHS says he agreed to voluntarily leave the United States rather than face formal removal. DHS officials condemned the act and emphasized that those who commit violent acts are not welcome to remain.

Harvard Visiting Professor Detained by ICE After BB-Gun Incident

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Wednesday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained Carlos Portugal Gouvêa, a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, in connection with an October incident in which a BB gun was fired outside a Boston-area synagogue.

Authorities say Gouvêa, a Brazilian national, was arrested on Oct. 2 after investigators allege he fired a BB gun outside the synagogue the day before Yom Kippur. At the time of his arrest, he reportedly told officers he was "hunting rats." On Nov. 13, Gouvêa pleaded guilty to illegal use of an air rifle; prosecutors dismissed separate charges of disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct and vandalism.

Two weeks after the incident, the U.S. Department of State revoked Gouvêa's temporary J-1 visa. ICE Boston Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested him on Wednesday, and, according to DHS, he agreed to voluntarily depart the United States rather than face formal removal proceedings.

"It is a privilege to work and study in the United States, not a right," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "There is no room in the United States for brazen, violent acts of antisemitism like this. They are an affront to our core principles as a country and an unacceptable threat against law-abiding American citizens."

McLaughlin added that DHS is "under zero obligation to admit foreigners who commit these inexplicably reprehensible acts or to let them stay here," and warned that those who engage in violence or terrorism should not expect to remain in the country.

Gouvêa had been serving as a visiting professor of law at Harvard. His primary academic appointment is as an associate professor at the University of São Paulo Law School, and he was listed as CEO of IDGlobal in Brazil. According to university materials, his research has influenced major decisions at Brazil's Supreme Federal Court and documented violence against Indigenous communities; he has also served on boards for several Brazilian organizations.

Harvard suspended Gouvêa pending the university's review of the incident. The synagogue leadership communicated to reporters that the shooting did not appear to be motivated by antisemitism. Harvard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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