Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained a relative of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt as part of the Trump administration’s intensifying immigration enforcement efforts.
Bruna Caroline Ferreira, the mother of Leavitt’s nephew, was taken into custody in Revere, Massachusetts, according to multiple reports.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told NBC News that Ferreira is a “criminal illegal alien from Brazil” accused of overstaying a tourist visa that expired in 1999.
A White House spokesperson also added: “Karoline had no involvement whatsoever in this matter.”
She was arrested on suspicion of battery and is now being held at a South Louisiana ICE Processing Center nearly 1,700 miles from home.
Family Launches GoFundMe to Support Legal Battle
Ferreira’s sibling, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, has created a GoFundMe campaign seeking funds for legal expenses. The family hopes the support will give Ferreira a “chance to return home to her family.”
On the fundraising page, Rodrigues wrote that Ferreira arrived in the U.S. as a child and had “maintained her legal status through DACA.”
She described her sister as “hardworking, kind, and always the first to offer help when someone needs it.”
Rodrigues added that Ferreira’s 11-year-old son, Michael Leavitt Jr., is struggling without his mother: “Bruna’s absence has been especially painful for her 11-year-old son… who hopes every single day that she’ll be home in time for the holidays.”
NBC reported, however, that Leavitt’s nephew has lived full-time in New Hampshire since birth and has never resided with his mother.
A Complicated Family History
Past reporting from The Cullman Times revealed that Michael Leavitt, Karoline’s brother, had been engaged to Ferreira as recently as 2014.
That same year, he won $1,008,001 in the DraftKings Millionaire Maker contest. “I’m speechless… I can’t believe it,” he said at the time.
Ferreira, quoted in that 2014 article, said she planned to use a portion of the winnings to buy “a lamp for my son’s room,” adding, “We really are blessed.”
The pair reportedly split not long after, and a source told WBUR that Leavitt and Ferreira have been separated for around a decade.
Karoline and Michael Leavitt grew up in New Hampshire with their siblings, where their parents owned a local ice cream shop and a used truck dealership.
Karoline later rose to national prominence as a spokesperson for MAGA Inc. before becoming the face of the Trump administration.
Leavitt Continues Defending Trump’s Immigration Policies
Leavitt has been a vocal supporter of the administration’s strict immigration agenda. Earlier this year, she reiterated Trump’s warnings to those living in the country illegally:
“If you invade our nation’s borders… you are going to be deported… and you may be held at Guantanamo Bay,” she said, via The Independent.
“These are criminals we are talking about – don’t forget that.”
In October, she declined to comment on whether emergency rooms should check a patient’s immigration status, saying the question was better left to “healthcare professionals and legal experts.”
New polling shows growing public discomfort with the administration’s enforcement efforts.
Only 34 percent of Americans now approve of ICE’s activities – down four points from last month.
A year ago, 56 percent supported mass deportations, but a turbulent year of raids across major cities has sharply divided public opinion.