A woman with a family connection to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Revere.

Bruna’s ICE arrest made headlines right before the 2025 Thanksgiving holiday. Learn about her and her connection to the White House Press Secretary.

A Brazilian-born mother who has lived in the US since childhood is now in ICE detention, CNN reports, after an arrest that unexpectedly drew political scrutiny because her son’s aunt is White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Ferreira, who traveled to the U.S. legally with her family as a young child, was detained by ICE agents in Revere, Massachusetts, while picking up her son from school. The Department of Homeland Security accuses her of overstaying a tourist visa that required her to leave the country in 1999 and says she was previously arrested for battery.

Described as 'a criminal illegal alien from Brazil' with ‘a previous arrest for battery’, the DHS said that Karoline Leavitt's sister-in-law Bruna Caroline Ferreira is in the process of being deported from the US.