Bruna Ferreira, the mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew, has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Revere, Massachusetts, as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Ferreira, 33, a Brazilian national who moved to the US as a child, is now held at an ICE facility in Louisiana, according to reports.
Ferreira was leaving her home to pick up her 11-year-old son, Michael Leavitt Jr, from school in New Hampshire when her car was “suddenly swarmed” by ICE agents, her sister Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues told the Boston Globe. The agents demanded identification, but Ferreira did not have an ID card. “They were not the most gentle with her,” Rodrigues said.
A White House source said Leavitt and Ferreira have not spoken in many years, and the child has lived full-time with his father, Michael Leavitt, since birth. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed Ferreira’s arrest, citing a previous battery charge and overstaying a B2 tourist visa that expired in 1999. “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, all individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation,” the spokesperson added.
Ferreira’s attorney, Todd Pomerleau, told CNN she was arrested on 12 November and is in the middle of a lawful immigration process for US citizenship. Her sister has launched a GoFundMe page to cover legal costs, raising over $16,000 as of Wednesday. The page states Ferreira has maintained her status through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) programme, which grants temporary protection from deportation for those who entered the US as children.
