After the Boston synagogue shooting, a Harvard professor held by ICE has decided to voluntarily leave the United States.
On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declared that ICE had taken into custody a Harvard Law School professor who was allegedly involved in an October shooting outside a synagogue.
firing a BB gun outside a synagogue in the Boston region the day before Yom Kippur, Carlos Portugal Gouvêa, a Brazilian national, was taken into custody on October 2.
At the time, Gouvêa told the authorities he was “hunting rats.” On November 13, he entered a guilty plea to the unlawful use of the air rifle; his other counts of disorderly behavior, disturbing the peace, and property vandalism were dropped.
The Harvard Crimson first reported Gouvêa was suspended by the university pending the investigation, with synagogue leaders noting in an email the shooting was not “fueled by antisemitism.”
Two weeks after the shooting, the Department of State revoked his temporary non-immigrant (J-1) visa.
ICE Boston Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested Gouvêa Wednesday, and he agreed to voluntarily leave the U.S. rather than be deported, according to DHS.

