WINCHESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - A woman with ties to the family of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was taken into custody by ICE in Revere earlier this month, according to Attorney Todd Pomerleau.
Pomerleau, a lawyer who represents 33-year-old Bruna Ferreira, said she has a child with Leavitt’s brother Michael and they share custody of him.
“My client has no sour grapes with the Leavitt family at all. They see each other regularly. My clients son — Karoline is his aunt,” said Pomerleau.
He said Ferreira was pulling out of her driveway in Revere on November 12 to go pick up her son from school when she was surrounded by ICE agents and detained. He said she was arrested without a warrant and is currently being held in Louisiana.
“She came here on a Visa at six. You can’t violate the Visa laws until six months after you turn 18 but by then she then had DACA, another lawful process, and right now she’s in the process to get her green card and she was arrested before she could get to the finish line,” Pomerleau explained.
In a statement, a spokesperson for ICE told 7NEWS, “She has a previous arrest for battery. She entered the U.S. on a B2 tourist visa that required her to depart the U.S. by June 6, 1999.”
Jeff Thielman is President and CEO of the International Institute of New England, which helps migrants with legal services and benefits. He said this arrest shows anyone can be impacted by ICE’s actions.
“The temperature in the room is that people are very scared and very worried they might be detained by ICE for no reason,” he said. “It says that all of us have refugees and immigrants in our lives. They’re members of our families, They’re our coworkers, they’re our classmates, our neighbors, our friends.”
Karoline Leavitt is from New Hampshire. President Trump appointed her as the White House Press Secretary earlier this year.
“That’s what’s, I think, disturbing here is somebody that close to the president — her nephew’s mom is in jail. And she’s there because of the policies of this administration on immigration enforcement,” said Pomerleau.
He said they are not asking Leavitt or her family for any help in this situation, they just want due process.
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