ICE-Detained Mom Of Karoline Leavitt’s Nephew Says She Asked Press Sec. To Be Godmother

The mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew is speaking out for the first time since she was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, last month.

A Brazilian native, Bruna Caroline Ferreira was arrested Nov. 12 at her home just outside of Boston. A spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security said the 33-year-old was in the U.S. illegally after overstaying a tourist visa that expired in 1999, when she was still a child. In a statement to CNN, the spokesperson called Ferreira “a criminal illegal alien from Brazil” with “a previous arrest for battery.”

On Monday, an immigration judge ordered Ferreira’s release from a Louisiana detention center on a $1,500 bond as she fights her potential deportation. Her arrest has been the subject of national scrutiny, given that she was once engaged to Leavitt’s brother, Michael Leavitt. The former couple share an 11-year-old son, Michael Leavitt, Jr.

Prior to her release, Ferreira spoke at length with The Washington Post in an interview published Sunday. In it, she rejected the White House’s portrayal of her as an absentee mother, as well as claims that she hadn’t spoken with Karoline Leavitt for years.

“I asked Karoline to be godmother over my only sister,” she said. “I made a mistake there, in trusting. … Why they’re creating this narrative is beyond my wildest imagination.”

Though she and Michael Leavitt ended their relationship in 2015, Ferreira said the pair have until now shared caregiving responsibilities for their son. The Post’s report, however, indicates the two had a contentious custody battle in which they each accused the other of abuse and neglect.

Ferreira also told The Post Michael Leavitt had “used intimidation” based on her “immigration status” after the split, a claim which he denied.

“I had no involvement in her being picked up by ICE. I have no control over that and had no involvement in that whatsoever,” he wrote in a text message to The Post, before going on to accuse the outlet of “trying to use this whole situation to push a narrative to smear me.”

Ferreira’s attorney, Todd Pomerleau, said his client does not have a criminal record. As for the DHS’s claim of a “previous arrest for battery,” Pomerleau said it could be a reference to a 2009 incident in which Ferreira, who was then 16, was involved in a physical altercation with another teen girl outside of a Dunkin’ Donuts. Ferreira was never arrested, he said, and the case was ultimately dismissed.

Though Karoline Leavitt has not commented publicly on Ferreira’s arrest, she has been a strident mouthpiece for President Donald Trump throughout his immigration crackdown. In July, she horrified critics with her enthusiastic description of the Trump administration’s immigration detention center in Florida’s Everglades, informally called “Alligator Alcatraz.”