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A routine operation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ended up revealing an unexpected connection to one of the most prominent figures in the U.S. government.
Bruna Caroline Ferreira, a Brazilian immigrant who has lived in Massachusetts for decades, was arrested this month in the town of Revere and is now being held at an ICE facility in Louisiana.
What has turned this case into a political and media scandal is its family connection to the White House spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt: Ferreira is the mother of Leavitt's nephew, the result of a past relationship with Michael Leavitt, brother of the current presidential press secretary.
An arrest with political repercussions
The news, initially reported by the local outlet WBUR, has sparked mixed reactions, both due to Ferreira's immigration background and the role that his ex-sister-in-law holds in an administration that has intensified the enforcement of measures against undocumented immigrants.
Ferreira was arrested while driving to pick up her son, according to her lawyer, Todd Pomerleau.
The boy, currently 11 years old, has mainly lived with his father in New Hampshire, although the official version regarding custody has been called into question.
"Those who claim that my client has no relationship with her son, nor custody, are not telling the truth," stated the lawyer, who asserted that "both share custody of their son."
From the White House, Leavitt has refused to comment on the case, while an official from his circle stated that "Karoline had no involvement in this matter."
At the same time, Michael Leavitt issued a brief public statement: “My only concern has always been my child's safety, well-being, and privacy.”
DACA, Trump, and a Disputed Legality
Ferreira arrived in the United States in 1998 when she was just a child, brought by her parents from Brazil.
Subsequently, she was a recipient of the DACA program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), which protects from deportation those who were brought in without documentation as minors.
However, during Donald Trump's administration, Ferreira was unable to renew his status.
According to Pomerleau, his client is "currently in the midst of a legal immigration process to obtain U.S. citizenship."
However, immigration authorities claim that he overstayed the authorized period of his tourist visa, which expired in June 1999.
The spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, was emphatic in stating: “Ferreira is a criminal illegal immigrant from Brazil with a prior arrest for assault.”
Pomerleau categorically denied that accusation: “They are labeling her a criminal for an accusation I have never seen, which I don't believe exists,” he said. “In other words, show it to me.”
"She is not an 'illegal immigrant criminal,'" she insisted before CNN.
The lawyer also deemed the detention illegal and questioned the lack of basic guarantees in the procedure.
"I understand that they never issued any arrest warrant for him. I don’t even know if they knew who he was. We are going to get to the bottom of this," the lawyer stated.
Shared custody, family relationships, and political distance
The relationship between Ferreira and Michael Leavitt is not recent.
According to The North Andover Eagle Tribune, in 2014 the couple was engaged and had an 8-month-old child. At that time, Michael won a million dollars in a DraftKings contest.
However, they have been separated for about a decade now.
Sources close to the family claim that Karoline Leavitt and Ferreira have not been in contact for years.
“Ferreira and the White House press secretary have not spoken in many years,” noted a source familiar with the situation cited by CNN.
Despite the separation, Ferreira's sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, claims that the mother-son relationship remains active and has launched a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe to cover the legal costs of the process.
“She has met all the requirements and has always strived to do what is right,” Rodrigues wrote in the petition.
“She is hardworking, kind, and always the first to offer help when someone needs it,” adds the campaign text, which has raised over $22,000 by the time of this report.
The page also states: “Bruna was brought to the United States by our parents in December 1998, when she was just a child… Since then, she has done everything possible to build a stable and honest life here.”
Distant detention, relentless immigration policy
Ferreira is being held at the ICE Processing Center in southern Louisiana, located in Basile, over 1,500 miles from the site of her arrest.
This transfer has been heavily criticized by his family and his lawyer, who consider the procedure unnecessarily punitive and disproportionate.
This case is part of a wave of arrests that reflects the tightening of immigration policy under the Trump administration. ICE has reported that as of November 15, there were more than 65,000 immigrants in custody, a significant increase from the beginning of autumn.
The Deputy Secretary of National Security has emphasized that DACA beneficiaries “are not automatically protected from deportation”; and added: “DACA does not confer any type of legal status in this country.”
The case of Bruna Ferreira not only reflects the human drama surrounding thousands of migrant families in the United States, but it also poses a political dilemma for the current administration.
The White House spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, an emerging figure of Trumpism and a staunch advocate for hardline immigration policies, is now personally linked—albeit indirectly—to one of the cases that highlight the contradictions of the U.S. immigration system.
While her family avoids making a public statement, Ferreira's advocates insist that her case deserves compassionate review.
"She does not pose a risk. She is not a criminal. She is a mother, a worker, a woman who has tried to abide by the law," her lawyer summarized.
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