The mother of Caroline Leavitt’s nephew has been detained by US immigration agents in Revere, Massachusetts, as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Bruna Ferreira, a Boston-area resident who moved to the United States from Brazil with her family as a child, is now in custody at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Louisiana, according to Boston radio station WBUR, which first reported the arrest.
Michael Leavitt, 35, brother of the White House press secretary, had a relationship with Ferreira, 33, and they had an 11-year-old son, Michael Leavitt Jr.
According to the Boston Globe, Ferreira was leaving her home in New Hampshire to pick up her son from school when her car was “surprised” by ICE agents. Ferreira’s sister, Graziella dos Santos Rodrigues, told the outlet that agents asked for his name and driver’s license, but Ferreira did not have identification.
“They weren’t the most polite to him,” he told the Globe.
“I’m sure my sister was scared and frantic. She’s been here since she was six. She’s more American than anything else. I’m sure she tried to use whatever she could come up with at that moment. It didn’t really help much, though.”
A White House source familiar with the situation said: “This person is the mother of Caroline’s nephew and they have not spoken for several years. The child has lived full-time with his father in New Hampshire since his birth. He has never lived with his mother.”
Separately, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that “ICE has arrested Bruna Caroline Ferreria, a criminal illegal alien from Brazil. Her previous arrest is for battery. She entered the US on a B2 tourist visa, which requires her to leave the US by June 6, 1999. She is currently being held in the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center and is in removal proceedings.”
He added: “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, all individuals present in the United States unlawfully are subject to deportation.”
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to WBUR that Ferreira had “a previous arrest for battery.”
Records of Ferreira’s arrest or how any charges were resolved were not immediately available.
At the very least, Ferreira’s detention and potential deportation have exposed many Americans’ close or casual ties to the administration’s immigration crackdown.
Levitt, a 28-year-old New Hampshire native, is best known for her high-ranking role as Trump’s spokesperson. Leavitt began her career interning at Fox News in 2016 before serving in the communications office during Trump’s first term.
When Trump took office for the second time in January, Leavitt made history by becoming the youngest White House press secretary.
According to The North Andover Eagle Tribune, little is known about his brother, except that he won $1 million in the DraftKings fantasy sports contest in 2014. At the time, the newspaper said, Levitt and Ferreira were engaged and their son was eight months old.
In a statement to WBUR, Levitt said: “My only concern has always been my son’s safety, well-being and privacy.”
Ferreira’s attorney Todd Pomerleau told CNN that his client was arrested on November 12 and was currently in the midst of the “legitimate immigration process” for U.S. citizenship.
Ferreira’s sister, Graziella dos Santos Rodrigues, has now started a GoFundMe page to help fight the ICE charges and legal costs to allow her sister to stay in the US.
According to the Post, Ferreira has maintained his legal status through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that provides temporary protection from deportation to those who entered the country as children.
According to his sister’s GoFundMe page, Ferreira “has followed every requirement, and has always striven to do the right thing”. As of Wednesday morning, more than $16,000 has been raised.
Dos Santos Rodrigues wrote, “She is hard-working, kind and always the first to offer help when someone is in need.” “Whether supporting family, friends or even strangers, Bruna’s heart values others before herself.”
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that DACA recipients are among those detained in the immigration sweeps, even though moves by Trump to end DACA during his first term were blocked by the Supreme Court.
In a recent statement to The Associated Press, McLaughlin said that people granted status under the Obama-era program “are not automatically protected from deportation,” adding, “DACA does not provide any kind of legal status in this country.”
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