BREAKING: President Trump White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s Family Member Has Been Captured by ICE — Despite Being a DACA Recipient Who Has Lived in the Country Illegally for 26 Years — Sources Reveal There Is More to the Detention Story Than the White House Is Letting On

A woman from Brazil with family ties to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is being detained at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana, authorities confirmed.

The woman, Bruna Caroline Ferreira, is the mother of Ms. Leavitt’s 11-year-old nephew. She was pulled over and arrested on Nov. 12 while driving to pick up her son from school in a Boston suburb, according to her lawyer, Todd Pomerleau.

Background of the Case

Mr. Pomerleau said Ms. Ferreira, 33, was seeking a green card and was arrested “without due process.” The Department of Homeland Security stated that she was in the country illegally, having entered the United States as a child on a B-2 tourist visa from Brazil. That visa required her to leave by June 6, 1999.

Ms. Ferreira was previously engaged to Michael Leavitt, Karoline Leavitt’s brother, though they never married. The two share custody of their son, who currently lives with Mr. Leavitt in New Hampshire. Ms. Ferreira resides in Revere, Massachusetts.

Mr. Leavitt said in a text message:
“My only concern has always been the safety, well being, and privacy of my son.”

A person familiar with the situation said Ms. Leavitt and Ms. Ferreira had not spoken in years.

Immigration Status and DACA History

Mr. Pomerleau said Ms. Ferreira received temporary protection under DACA after her parents brought her to the United States as a child. However, she was no longer protected at the time of her arrest because she was pursuing a green card and had been unable to renew her DACA status.

She had attended an immigration hearing in the spring and was waiting for a final hearing.

Detention in Louisiana

DHS said Ms. Ferreira is currently held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center.

According to DHS, she had previously been arrested on suspicion of battery, though they did not specify whether she was ever charged. Mr. Pomerleau disputed that characterization, saying she has no criminal record.

“Show us the proof,” he challenged, responding to DHS labeling her a criminal.

Ms. Ferreira’s family members have varying immigration statuses: her sister is a U.S. citizen, and her mother holds a green card.

“These aren’t criminal illegal aliens. These are taxpayers, working mothers,” Mr. Pomerleau said.
“They were living the American dream, and now it’s a dystopian nightmare.”

Family Response and Fundraiser

Her sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, created a GoFundMe campaign to help with legal expenses. She wrote that Ms. Ferreira was brought to the U.S. in December 1998.

Broader Context

The Trump administration has aggressively reshaped immigration enforcement, casting a wide net that has led to arrests of immigrants both legally present and those actively seeking legal status.

Internal documents reviewed by The New York Times show that as DHS has shifted resources toward immigration enforcement, the agency has made fewer drug arrests and seized fewer weapons than in the previous fiscal year.

Mr. Pomerleau said cases like Ms. Ferreira’s are common for his firm. Immigrants are often arrested without warning, transferred far from home, and left scrambling to reach legal representation.

Jeffrey Rubin, another attorney at the firm, said injustices in the system have intensified.
“The volume and the just lack of complete discretion is what’s been new,” he said.