Agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have detained a relative of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during an immigration operation launched this month in Boston, Massachusetts.
The woman, Leavitt’s former sister-in-law and a Brazilian national, has been identified as Bruna Caroline Ferreira and is the mother of one of the Republican’s nephews, according to one of her lawyers speaking to CNN.
Ferreira, detained on November 12, remains in custody, while her son resides with his father, Leavitt’s brother, in New Hampshire. Authorities consider her to be in the United States illegally, as her tourist visa expired years ago.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security stated that she is a “criminal” with a “prior arrest for assault” and is currently in deportation proceedings.
However, her lawyers argue that she was included in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, whose beneficiaries were considered “Dreamers” during the administration of former President Barack Obama.
