ICE Detainee Linked to Trump Press Secretary Breaks Silence: “No Bad Blood”
ICE Detainee Linked to Trump Press Secretary Breaks Silence: “No Bad Blood” - Getty
A close relative of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt still holds “deep respect and admiration” for her, even as Leavitt remains silent about the relative’s detention in an immigration facility.
Bruna Ferreira, 33, was taken into immigration custody earlier this month while picking up her 11-year-old son, who is Leavitt’s nephew and godson, from school in Revere, Massachusetts. The Department of Homeland Security claims the Brazilian national overstayed a tourist visa.
Ferreira is currently being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile. Despite her detention, she bears no ill will toward Leavitt or the family and continues to regard the 28-year-old Trump administration official highly, her attorney Todd Pomerleau told WMUR, an ABC affiliate in New Hampshire.
“She is not doing well, but she is strong and resilient,” Pomerleau said.
Leavitt’s brother, Michael, told the outlet that his primary concern was the “most concerned about the well-being and safety of his son,” whom he said Ferreira has maintained a close relationship with.
Pomerleau said his client has been in the United States since she first entered at six years old and was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, an immigration program established in 2012 that provides children brought to the U.S. with protection from deportation and work permits. “She is caught up in this limbo,” Pomerleau said. “Under the law, she should be released.”
Ferreira’s case was thrust into the global spotlight after her family criticized Leavitt, one of the most influential members of the Trump administration, for “radio silence” on the young mother’s detention over 1,500 miles away from New England. A GoFundMe page set up by Ferreira’s family has raised $35,875 as of Sunday morning.
“Anyone who knows Bruna knows the kind of person she is. She is hardworking, kind, and always the first to offer help when someone needs it,” a statement from Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, who describes herself as Ferreira’s family member, reads on the fundraising page. “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.”
Pomerleau told CNN on Wednesday that she remains civil with the Leavitt family because they share a child, despite separating from Leavitt’s brother, Michael. Pomerleau also said Ferreira “literally picked Karoline to be the godmother of Michael Jr., over her own sister.” Leavitt declined to comment on the situation to her local news channel.
