By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. immigration authorities are detaining the mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew, officials said on Wednesday, a sign of the wide reach of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement that immigration authorities had arrested the woman, Brazilian national Bruna Caroline Ferreira, but declined to provide the exact circumstances.
News reports said Ferreira had been taken into custody in Revere, Massachusetts, near Boston.
DHS said Ferreira had entered the U.S. on a tourist visa and failed to depart. But her attorney, Jeffrey Rubin, said she was pursuing permanent residence and had previously had protection from deportation under a program for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
MOST ARRESTED BY ICE HAD NO CONVICTIONS
Trump, a Republican, has surged immigration officers to major cities across the U.S. in an effort to reach historic levels of deportations, sweeping in many long-term residents and non-criminals.
More than two-thirds of the roughly 53,000 people arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and detained as of November 15 had no criminal convictions, according to ICE statistics.
DHS said Ferreira had a previous arrest for battery, but did not provide further details. Reuters could not independently confirm the alleged charge.
In response to a request for comment to the White House, a source familiar with the matter confirmed that Ferreira was the mother to Leavitt’s nephew. The source said the nephew had lived full-time with Leavitt’s brother, Michael Leavitt, in New Hampshire since birth and had never resided with Ferreira.
DHS said Ferreira was being held in an ICE detention center in Louisiana.Â
“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, all individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation,” the spokesperson said.
Rubin, a Boston-based attorney representing Ferreira, said in a statement that his firm hoped to secure her quick release.
She previously had been enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which offers deportation relief and work permits to immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, he said.
Rubin said the same government that offered her a path to citizenship had now chosen to “abuse its entrusted powers” with “random mass deportation.”
A GoFundMe page organized by Ferreira’s sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, aims to raise $30,000 for her legal expenses, describing her as a selfless and hardworking mother.
“She has done everything in her power to build a stable, honest life here,” the page said. “She has maintained her legal status through DACA, followed every requirement, and has always strived to do the right thing.”
Her detention has been “especially painful” for her 11-year-old son, “who needs his mother and hopes every single day that she’ll be home in time for the holidays,” the page said.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson; Editing by Craig Timberg and Rod Nickel)
