RT “A MOTHER TORN AWAY: The Heart-Stopping ICE Arrest That Left an 11-Year-Old Boy Wondering If He’ll Ever See His Mom Again 😱💔”

Mother in Custody Battle with Karoline Leavitt’s Brother Detained by ICE

A deeply personal and prolonged custody dispute has intersected with federal immigration enforcement, resulting in the arrest and detention of Bruna Ferreira, the 33-year-old mother of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew. Ferreira, a Brazilian immigrant, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Massachusetts last month and is currently being held in a Louisiana detention center, hundreds of miles from her 11-year-old son who resides in New Hampshire.

The arrest has cast a national spotlight on a fraught family history involving Michael Leavitt, the child’s father and brother of the prominent Republican operative. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Ferreira’s detention is based on allegations that she overstayed a visa that expired in 1999 and had a prior arrest for battery. However, Ferreira’s legal counsel, Todd Pomerleau, has forcefully contested these claims. Pomerleau asserts that his client has been living in the United States legally and was in the process of pursuing citizenship through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. He also maintains that Ferreira has no criminal record.

The battery allegation appears to stem from an incident when Ferreira was 16 years old. A police report from Melrose, Massachusetts, documents that she was summoned to court for assault and battery after an officer reported witnessing her physically confronting another girl in a Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot.

The recent ICE action is the latest development in a contentious relationship between Ferreira and Michael Leavitt that has been playing out in New Hampshire’s family courts for nearly a decade. The couple’s son was born in March 2014, just weeks after Ferreira’s divorce from her first husband was finalized. While their co-parenting relationship may have started amicably, it deteriorated significantly by April 2015. At that time, Michael Leavitt filed a child custody complaint, alleging to law enforcement that an “illegal alien from Brazil” had absconded with their son and his vehicle.

In the ensuing legal filings, Leavitt accused Ferreira of taking their son from his home in the middle of the night and threatening to move with the child to Brazil. Ferreira vehemently denied these accusations and made a serious counter-allegation, claiming that Leavitt had threatened to contact ICE in an effort to have her deported. A family court judge ultimately granted Leavitt temporary “sole residential and sole decision-making” responsibilities in 2015.

Despite the ruling, the conflict persisted for another year until the two reached an agreement to split parenting time, with Leavitt also consenting to pay child support. However, peace was short-lived. In 2020, the legal battle reignited when Ferreira filed for full custody of their son. In her petition, she accused Leavitt of failing to meet his financial obligations, claiming he owed her approximately $70,000 in overdue child support payments. The court did not grant her request. Instead, a judge ruled that the child would continue to reside primarily with his father during the school week, with Ferreira’s parenting time limited to just three weekends per month.

The family’s difficulties were further documented in June 2022, when police officers responding to an incident at Ferreira’s residence described the home as appearing “derelict.” This observation prompted the officers to file a report of suspected child abuse or neglect with the New Hampshire Department of Children and Families, adding another layer of official scrutiny to the ongoing domestic turmoil.

Given Karoline Leavitt’s public profile as a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump’s stringent immigration policies, speculation has emerged regarding her potential role in Ferreira’s arrest. However, Michael Leavitt has publicly denied that his sister had any involvement in directing immigration authorities to detain his former partner. Sources indicate that Karoline Leavitt and Bruna Ferreira have not spoken to each other in several years.

Ferreira’s family is now navigating the dual challenges of the immigration and family law systems. Her sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, told WBUR that there was no animosity between the two families. Dos Santos Rodrigues stated that she had spoken with Michael Leavitt and his father, who reportedly advised that Ferreira’s best course of action would be to agree to self-deportation. Unwilling to accept that outcome, Dos Santos Rodrigues is determined to keep her sister in the United States. She reported that she has reached out to Karoline Leavitt for assistance but has not yet received a response. As Ferreira remains in federal custody, her future—and her ability to remain in the same country as her son—hangs in the balance.