The extended family of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt have spoken out after Bruna Ferreira was detained by ICE.
She was detained earlier this week
Bruna Ferreira shares an 11-year-old son with Karoline Leavitt’s brother, Michael. The pair were once engaged to be married but have been broken up for over a decade.
Ferreira was detained at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center as of November 25.
She’s now at risk of being deported
The mother has since been branded as a ‘criminal illegal alien from Brazil’, per the Daily Beast.
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson told the outlet, “She has a previous arrest for battery.”
They explained why she’s subject to it
“She entered the U.S. on a B2 tourist visa that required her to depart the U.S. by June 6, 1999,” the DHS spokesperson went on.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, all individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation.”
Ferreira’s family have now spoken up
In a statement issued following the incident, Ferreira’s family have explained that she’s been in the US since she was a child.
Her sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, told The Boston Globe, “She’s been here since she was six years old. She’s more American than she is anything else.”
Ferreira was told to ‘self deport’
Her sister went on, “They just kept saying, ‘tell her to self-deport,’” adding, “Self-deport to where? Brazil is not her home.”
It’s understood that Bob Leavitt, Karoline and Michael’s father, has reached out to Ferreira, but the White House Press Secretary herself hasn’t.
Karoline Leavitt doesn’t seem to have reached out
Dos Santgos Rodrigues added, “If she were to help in any way, if she were willing to do anything to help us, she would have reached out by now.”
“She has my phone number. We’ve been family for the last 13 years.”
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Ferreira’s sister believes Leavitt should’ve done more
“I understand the policies and how it looks,” Dos Santgos Rodrigues continued.
“But I also think when it comes to family, you put certain things aside. I don’t care who you work for.”