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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A woman from Massachusetts, who was once engaged to the sibling of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, continues to be held by ICE, more than two weeks following her arrest while en route to collect her son, whom she co-parents with her former partner.
According to her lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, Bruna Ferreira, 33, was on her way to her son’s school in New Hampshire when she was stopped by authorities in Revere, Massachusetts, on November 12.
“She was not given any explanation for her detention,” Pomerleau stated. “This led to her being shuttled from Massachusetts to New Hampshire, then to Vermont, and finally to Louisiana in what felt like an endless, unjust journey.”
Pomerleau explained that Ferreira’s 11-year-old son resides with her ex-fiancé, Michael Leavitt, in New Hampshire, under a shared custody arrangement. Despite their engagement ending, they have successfully co-parented for several years. The boy previously spent time living with both parents, alternating between homes and enjoying numerous weekends and nights with his mother.
“Her detention is unwarranted. She poses no threat, is not likely to flee, and is not an undocumented criminal,” Pomerleau emphasized. “She is a tax-paying business owner and a mother, whose child has been left wondering about her whereabouts since she was taken two weeks ago.”
Michael Leavitt did not respond to a message sent to his workplace. The White House press secretary declined comment. Karoline Leavitt grew up in New Hampshire, and made an unsuccessful run for Congress from the state in 2022 before becoming Trump’s spokesperson for his 2024 campaign and later joining him at the White House.
Pomerleau said his client was 2 or 3 when she and her family came to the U.S. from Brazil, and she later enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Obama-era policy that shields immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. He said she was in the process of applying for a green card.
The Department of Homeland Security said Ferreira entered the U.S. on a tourist visa that required her to leave in 1999. A department spokesperson said Ferreira had a previous arrest for battery, an allegation her attorney denied.
An online search of court cases in several Massachusetts locations where she has lived found no record of such a charge. In New Hampshire, court records show, she had two motor vehicle violations in 2020: speeding and driving an unregistered vehicle. The charges were placed on file without a finding on the condition that she enroll in a safe driving course and remain on good behavior for one year.
“They’re claiming she has some type of criminal record we’ve seen nowhere. Show us the proof,” Pomerleau said. “She would’ve been deported years ago if that was true. And yet, here she is in the middle of this immigration imbroglio.”
A DHS spokesperson confirmed Ferreira is being held in Louisiana.
President Donald Trump’s efforts to broadly reshape immigration policy have included changing the approach to DACA recipients. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin recently issued a statement saying that people “who claim to be recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are not automatically protected from deportations. DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country.”