Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have detained one of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s relatives, as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown continues.
Bruna Caroline Ferreira is the mother of Leavitt’s nephew and was detained in Revere, Massachusetts, according to multiple media reports.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told NBC News that Ferreira is a “criminal illegal alien from Brazil,” who is accused of staying on an expired tourist visa since 1999.
According to the spokesperson, Ferreira is being held at a South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, nearly 1,700 miles from her home, after being arrested on suspicion of battery.
Ferreira’s sibling, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to cover her legal fees, which she hopes will give her sister a “chance to return home to her family.”
On the GoFundMe page’s description, Rodrigues says that Ferreira came to the United States as a child and had “maintained her legal status through DACA.”
“Anyone who knows Bruna knows the kind of person she is,” Rodrigues said. “She is hardworking, kind, and always the first to offer help when someone needs it.
“Whether it’s supporting family, friends, or even strangers, Bruna has a heart that puts others before herself.
“Bruna’s absence has been especially painful for her 11-year-old son, Michael Leavitt Junior, who needs his mother and hopes every single day that she’ll be home in time for the holidays.”
According to the NBC source, Leavitt’s nephew has lived full-time in New Hampshire since birth and has never lived with his mother.
Public approval of Donald Trump’s hardline immigration crackdown has collapsed in recent weeks, with a new, bombshell poll suggesting that only 34 percent of Americans approve of ICE’s activities. That is a 4 percent drop since last month.
Just a year ago, a Pew Research Center survey found that 56 percent of Americans backed mass deportations, meaning the chaotic year of raids in Los Angeles, Chicago, and North Carolina had divided voters.
Leavitt has defended the Trump administration’s immigration record since the president took office in January.
“It's a promise the President campaigned on, that if you invade our nation's borders, if you break our country's laws, and if then you further commit heinous, brutal crimes in the interior of our country ... you are going to be deported from this country, and you may be held at Guantanamo Bay,” she told reporters in February.
“These are criminals we are talking about — don't forget that.”
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As recently as October, Leavitt refused to comment on whether emergency rooms should check a patient’s immigration status before treating them.
“That's probably not a question for me to answer. I think that's a question for healthcare professionals and legal experts to answer,” she said, dodging the question several times.
In standard practice, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act requires all Medicare-participating hospitals to provide a medical screening examination to anyone who comes to their emergency department. This must take place regardless of their ability to pay.
Leavitt’s controversial answer was slammed by experts, including Dr. Craig Spencer, who said that he asks “about immigration status about as often as I ask about insurance—which is never.”
The Independent has contacted the White House and the DHS for comment.
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