The current immigration crackdown championed by the Trump administration just hit incredibly close to home for White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt after US immigration agents detained the mother of her nephew in Massachusetts. Bruna Ferreira, a Boston-area resident who came to the US from Brazil as a child, is now in custody at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility located in Louisiana.
This arrest, first reported by Boston radio station WBUR, puts the spotlight on the personal connections many Americans have to the administration’s strict deportation policies. Ferreira, 33, is the mother of 11-year-old Michael Leavitt Jr., whose father is Michael Leavitt, 35, the press secretary’s brother.
Ferreira was leaving her home in Revere to pick up her son from school in New Hampshire when ICE agents suddenly “swarmed” her car. Her sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, said that the agents demanded Ferreira’s name and driver’s license, but she didn’t have an ID card on her at the time.
White House now has a family connection to an ICE arrest
Dos Santos Rodrigues recounted that the ICE agents “were not the most gentle with her,” adding that her sister must have been absolutely terrified and frantic. You can only imagine that feeling, especially since Ferreira has lived in the US since she was six years old. Her sister insists she’s “more American than she is anything else.”
Ferreira’s attorney, Todd Pomerleau, stated that his client was arrested on November 12. Pomerleau added that Ferreira was actively in the middle of a “lawful immigration process” to pursue US citizenship.
Crucially, Ferreira had been maintaining her legal status through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. This program grants temporary protection from deportation for individuals who were brought to the country as children. Her sister’s GoFundMe page, which has already raised more than $16,000 for legal costs, claims Ferreira has “followed every requirement, and has always strived to do the right thing.”
However, the Department of Homeland Security isn’t backing down. A spokesperson for the agency confirmed that ICE arrested Bruna Caroline Ferreria and referred to her as “a criminal illegal alien from Brazil.” They cited a “previous arrest for battery” and stated that she originally entered the US on a B2 tourist visa that required her departure by June 6, 1999. This is, at least, not a case of completely innocent immigrants facing ICE arrests.
The DHS spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, reiterated that under President Trump and Secretary Noem, “all individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation.” McLaughlin later stated that those with DACA status “are not automatically protected from deportations,” claiming that DACA “does not confer any form of legal status in this country.”
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is one of the administration’s most visible faces, making history as the youngest-ever White House press secretary when President Trump entered office for his second term in January. She recently drew flak from the House Minority Leader, though.
Published: Nov 26, 2025 05:00 pm