ICE agents in Massachusetts arrested a relative of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, according to a report.
The woman, Bruna Caroline Ferreira, was taken into custody in Revere, Mass. after allegedly overstaying a tourist visa that expired in June 1999, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told NBC News. The DHS described her as “a criminal illegal alien from Brazil.”
Ferreira shares an 11‑year‑old son with Leavitt’s brother, Michael. The boy has lived his whole life in New Hampshire with his father and has never lived with his mother, the outlet noted. “The only concern has always been the safety, well‑being, and privacy of my son,” Michael Leavitt told a local news station.
Leavitt, 28, hasn’t seen Ferreira in years. “This individual is the mother of Karoline’s nephew and they have not spoken in many years. The child has lived full‑time in New Hampshire with his father since he was born. He has never resided with his mother,” a source told WMUR. Ferreira’s family‑arrival in the United States brought her to the U.S. as a child, and an earlier arrest on suspicion of battery was made, though the outcome of that case was unclear.
She is now held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center while removal proceedings advance. “She entered the US on a B2 tourist visa that required her to depart the US by June 6, 1999,” the Department of Homeland Security told the outlet. “She is currently at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center and is in removal proceedings. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, all individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation.”
Her lawyer contested the arrest, arguing that Ferreira arrived under the Obama‑era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and has been pursuing legal status. Attorney Todd Pomerleau said, “She’s in the process of actually getting her green card and she was abruptly arrested and taken from her young child right before Thanksgiving.” He added, “Bruna has no criminal record whatsoever. I don’t know where that is coming from. Show us the proof. There’s no charges out there. She’s not a criminal illegal alien.”
Pomerleau also noted that Ferreira’s son has not spoken to his mother since the arrest. “I’m just trying to fight to get her out of jail. She should not be sitting in a jail hours away from her family and from her child’s life. She’s a great mom, and from what I heard, I think he’s been a pretty good dad,” he said.
The attorney sided with Michael Leavitt, insisting the boy should be shielded from his mom’s legal woes. “His mother is locked up in Louisiana, where she should have never been in the first place,” Pomerleau said.
Since taking office, Trump and his team have launched a “mass deportation campaign,” which includes encouragement for people living illegally to “self‑deport” and large-scale operations by ICE, the Border Patrol, and the National Guard in towns nationwide. “All individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation,” the DHS reiterated.
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