“ICE Raid Shakes Up Leavitt Family as Nephew’s Mother Detained”
Socialites, well come get a load of this: A routine school pick-up turned into a full-blown immigration drama this week after Bruna Ferreira, the mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew, was detained by U.S. immigration agents in Revere, Massachusetts.
Ferreira, 33, who came to the U.S. from Brazil as a child and has lived in the Boston area for years, is now being held at an ICE facility in Louisiana, according to reporting from WBUR.
Ferreira was reportedly leaving home to go get her 11-year-old son, Michael Leavitt Jr., when ICE agents “suddenly swarmed” her car. Her sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, said agents demanded Ferreira’s name and driver’s license, something she didn’t have on her at the moment. One second she’s heading to school pickup, next second she’s surrounded. It was that fast.
For folks wondering how the White House fits into all this: Ferreira shares her son with Michael Leavitt, 35—the brother of Karoline Leavitt.
A White House source, clearly trying to keep some distance from the situation, told The Guardian: “This individual is the mother of Karoline’s nephew and they have not spoken in many years. The child has lived full time in New Hampshire with his father since he was born. He has never resided with his mother.”
Meanwhile, Homeland Security took a hard line in confirming the arrest. A DHS spokesperson stated: “ICE arrested Bruna Caroline Ferreria [sic], a criminal illegal alien from Brazil. She has a previous arrest for battery. She entered the US on a B2 tourist visa that required her to depart the US by 6 June 1999. She is currently at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center and is in removal proceedings.”
They added the administration’s stance loud and clear: “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, all individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation.”
But Ferreira’s attorney, Todd Pomerleau, isn’t letting that narrative stand without a fight. In an interview with WCVB, he pushed back hard: ”Bruna has no criminal record whatsoever, I don’t know where that is coming from. Show us the proof,” he said.
As many are aware, since Donald J. Trump got back in the Oval Office in January 2025, his administration has unleashed a sweeping crackdown through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,dramatically boosting arrests and deportations even for people with no criminal history and expanding enforcement deep into cities, workplaces, and farms across America.
The new rules backed by an executive order signed early on ramp up expedited removals, revive local law-enforcement partnerships under 287(g), and set aggressive quotas: ICE agents are now expected to arrest thousands per day nationwide.
Critics say this crackdown isn’t just going after “criminal aliens” as promised, the data shows a massive increase in arrests of immigrants without convictions, stretching detention systems to capacity and sweeping up longtime residents, families, and workers.
Bottom line: what used to be targeted enforcement under past presidencies is now more like a full-scale dragnet. casting a wide net that’s uprooting lives, communities, and families across the country.