Fact Check: Evidence Reveals ICE Detained Sister-in-Law of Karoline Leavitt

Immigration authorities have detained a Brazilian woman with family ties to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, according to multiple reliable sources including The New York Times and The Associated Press.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Bruna Caroline Ferreira, 33, is currently being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center. Ferreira is the ex-fiancée of Michael Leavitt, the brother of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. The former couple shares an 11-year-old son together.

According to DHS, Ferreira entered the United States on a B2 tourist visa that required her to leave the country by June 1999. In a statement, the agency described her as “a criminal illegal alien from Brazil” with “a previous arrest for battery,” adding that she is now “in removal proceedings.”

“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, all individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation,” the statement continued.

Ferreira’s attorney, Todd Pomerleau, disputes the characterization of his client as having a criminal record. He told The New York Times that Ferreira came to the U.S. as a child with her family. Speaking to The Washington Post, Pomerleau described the circumstances of her detention: “She was arrested, was never told why, and shipped to the South.”

The detention has drawn significant attention on social media, with several posts about the case garnering millions of views. It comes amid the Trump administration’s intensified immigration enforcement policies, which have prioritized detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants regardless of family ties or length of stay in the United States.

While the White House has not issued an official response to the situation, an anonymous White House source told The Guardian that Ferreira’s son “has lived full time in New Hampshire with his father since he was born. He has never resided with his mother.”

This claim, however, appears to contradict a 2014 article in The Salem News, which featured Michael Leavitt, Ferreira, and their son when Leavitt won $1 million in a fantasy football contest. In the article, Ferreira was quoted saying, “I need the lights fixed on the back of my car. And we need a lamp for my son’s room. Other than that, we don’t really need much. We have our health. We have a nice condo. We really are blessed.”

Ferreira’s sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, told The Boston Globe that while Michael Leavitt and her sister ended their relationship more than a decade ago, they had shared custody of their son, who primarily lived in New Hampshire. Dos Santos Rodrigues has launched a GoFundMe fundraiser seeking support for Ferreira’s legal defense.

Michael Leavitt has been reluctant to speak publicly about the situation, citing his son’s privacy. However, he reportedly told New Hampshire television station WMUR that his son had not spoken to Ferreira since her detention but that mother and son had maintained a relationship.

Immigration advocates have raised concerns about ICE’s practices under the current administration, with reports suggesting that detained immigrants are being quickly moved to facilities in conservative states, potentially complicating their access to legal representation and due process.

The case highlights the complexities of U.S. immigration enforcement and its impact on families with mixed immigration status. While White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has not made any public statement regarding her reported familial connection to Ferreira, the situation places her in an unusual position as a spokesperson for an administration aggressively pursuing deportation policies that have now affected her extended family.