A woman with family ties to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has been taken into federal immigration custody, drawing new attention to the Trump administration’s aggressive enforcement push and the human impact behind the headlines. The case centers on Bruna Caroline Ferreira, a Brazilian national and the mother of Leavitt’s 11-year-old nephew, whose arrest near Boston has quickly become a flashpoint in the broader debate over immigration policy.
Woman’s arrest and immigration case
Ferreira was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Revere, Massachusetts, on November 12 after officials determined she had overstayed a tourist visa that required her to leave the United States in 1999. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson has described her as being in the country unlawfully with a prior arrest for battery, and said she is now in removal proceedings at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, thousands of miles from her home in New England.
Her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, has pushed back on that portrayal, saying Ferreira entered the country legally as a child, previously held DACA status and has been in the process of seeking a green card. He has also raised concerns about how she was taken into custody, saying ICE agents stopped her in her car without a warrant and that her detention in Louisiana makes it harder for her family and legal team to support her.
Family link to Karoline Leavitt
Ferreira shares an 11-year-old son with Leavitt’s brother, Michael Leavitt, who told local reporters that the boy has lived with him in New Hampshire since birth and has not lived with his mother full time. People close to the family say the child maintains a relationship with Ferreira, but that she and Karoline Leavitt have not had contact for years, minimizing any personal connection between the press secretary and the ongoing case.
A White House official has emphasized that Leavitt had no involvement in the arrest or the decision to detain Ferreira, framing the matter as a routine enforcement action under existing policy. When asked by local outlet WMUR, Leavitt declined to comment, underscoring the sensitivity of balancing her public role as a leading voice for strict immigration enforcement with a private family situation at the center of that same system.
Politics, policy and human impact
The arrest comes as President Trump and his administration press ahead with a renewed crackdown targeting people who entered the country illegally or overstayed visas, with officials saying all those unlawfully present are subject to deportation. Leavitt has been one of the administration’s strongest defenders on immigration, arguing that those who violate U.S. laws and, especially, those with criminal records should face removal, a message that now intersects uncomfortably with her own extended family.
Immigrant advocates argue that Ferreira’s case shows how long-settled residents and mixed-status families can be upended by enforcement actions, particularly when parents are detained far from their children. As legal proceedings unfold in Louisiana, questions are likely to grow about how immigration laws are applied, the role of discretion in individual cases, and what it means for families when political rhetoric about “cracking down” turns into a personal crisis.