Karoline Leavitt's family member arrested by ICE faces deportation to Brazil
WASHINGTON, DC: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has become personally connected to the sweeping immigration raids of her own administration.
A family member, the mother of her 11-year-old nephew, has been detained by US immigration authorities and is now facing deportation.
Detention of Bruna Ferreira
According to the report, Leavitt’s nephew’s mother, Bruna Ferreira, is in custody at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana and is facing deportation to Brazil.
Ferreira was previously engaged to Leavitt’s brother, Michael Leavitt of New Hampshire, and they share a son. The child has lived full‑time with his father in New Hampshire, and according to a source, has never lived with his mother.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the Daily Beast that Ferreira, a Brazilian national, overstayed a tourist visa that required her to leave the US by June 6, 1999.
The DHS also claims she has a prior arrest for battery.
However, local records in Massachusetts do not clearly confirm those battery charges. Ferreira is currently in removal proceedings at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center.
Bruna Ferreira's family response and legal fight
Ferreira’s sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, has launched a GoFundMe fundraising campaign to cover legal fees in an effort to stop the deportation.
The campaign had raised more than $15,000 toward a stated goal of $30,000.
Rodrigues argues that her sister has lived in the United States for most of her life, having entered with her parents in December 1998 and has maintained her status through a program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
She claims Ferreira has “done everything in her power to build a stable, honest life” in the country.
Meanwhile, Michael, Ferreira’s former partner and father of her son, has expressed concern for the well‑being and privacy of their child. According to a family acquaintance, the couple split around a decade ago.
Reports also note that Michael previously won $1 million in a DraftKings competition in 2014.
On the GoFundMe page, Rodrigues appeals to supporters by saying her sister is “now fighting to stay in the country she has called home for nearly her entire life.”
She emphasizes how difficult the situation has been for Ferreira’s son, writing that he “needs his mother and hopes every single day that she’ll be home in time for the holidays.”
The funds are intended to help “give Bruna the best possible chance to return home to her family,” she added, expressing deep gratitude for support, prayers and kindness during what she called “incredibly painful time.”
