The mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s 11-year-old nephew is in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after being detained earlier this month.
Bruna Caroline Ferreira was arrested on Nov. 12 in Revere, Mass., a city just north of Boston, according to reports from CNN and CNN affiliate WMUR.
Ferreira shares an 11-year-old son with Leavitt’s brother, Michael Leavitt. CNN reported that she was driving to pick up her son from Michael’s home in New Hampshire when she was detained.
In a statement, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson confirmed that Ferreira, who was born in Brazil, had been arrested and that her tourist visa expired in 1999.
“She entered the U.S. on a B2 tourist visa that required her to depart the U.S. by June 6, 1999,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also claimed that Ferreira “has a previous arrest for battery,” though details of that alleged arrest remain unclear. WBUR, a public broadcaster affiliated with Boston University, reported that it was unable to find any criminal charges filed against her in Massachusetts’ online court database.
Todd Pomerleau, Ferreira’s attorney, disputed the claim in comments to WMUR.
“Bruna has no criminal record whatsoever,” he said. “Show us the proof. There’s no charges out there. She’s not a criminal, illegal alien, we’re hearing that said about anyone who’s not a U.S. citizen.”
A source familiar with the situation said that Ferreira’s son has always lived full-time in New Hampshire with Michael and has never lived with his mother. The source also said that Ferreira and Karoline Leavitt “have not spoken in many years.”
The DHS spokesperson said that Ferreira “is currently at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center and is in removal proceedings.”
They added, “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, all individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation.”
Pomerleau told CNN that Ferreira was previously protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which applies to certain immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. He said she had been following a “lawful immigration process” in an effort to obtain citizenship.
According to Pomerleau, Ferreira was unable to renew her DACA status after Trump attempted — unsuccessfully — to end the program during his first term in office.
Ferreira’s sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, created a GoFundMe campaign to help the family fight her possible deportation.
“Bruna was brought to the United States by our parents in December of 1998, when she was just a child, entering on a visa. Since then, she has done everything in her power to build a stable, honest life here. She has maintained her legal status through DACA, followed every requirement, and has always strived to do the right thing,” Rodrigues wrote in the fundraiser description.
She continued, “Anyone who knows Bruna knows the kind of person she is. She is hardworking, kind, and always the first to offer help when someone needs it. Whether it’s supporting family, friends, or even strangers, Bruna has a heart that puts others before herself.”
Rodrigues also wrote that her sister’s detention has been especially hard on Ferreira’s 11-year-old son, saying he “needs his mother and hopes every single day that she’ll be home in time for the holidays.”
Michael Leavitt spoke to WMUR, confirming the situation and saying that his son has not had contact with his mother since her arrest. He described the circumstances as “difficult” and emphasized that his primary concern is his son’s safety and well-being.
Ferreira’s detention comes during an intensified immigration crackdown launched at the beginning of Trump’s second term.
In a Nov. 2 interview with 60 Minutes, Trump said ICE raids “haven’t gone far enough,” claiming that his administration is being “held back by the… by the judges, by the liberal judges that were put in by Biden and by Obama.”
