Recently, Bruna Caroline Ferreira, 33, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while leaving her home in Revere, Massachusetts.
Ferreira, who moved from Brazil to the U.S. as a child, was on her way to pick up her son when ICE agents took her into custody.
Her sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, says the family has struggled since the arrest. She criticized White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt for not reaching out. “She has my number. We’ve been connected for more than ten years. If she wanted to help, she would have,” Rodrigues told the Boston Globe. She added that family matters should sometimes come before rules.
Some family members, according to Rodrigues, suggested that Ferreira voluntarily leave the country. “They kept saying, ‘Go back to Brazil.’ But that’s not her home. She barely speaks the language,” Rodrigues said.
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A source familiar with the case told the Daily Beast that Ferreira has not been closely involved with the Leavitt family in recent years. Her son has lived full-time with his father in New Hampshire, and she has not lived with him for some time.
Still, records from a 2014 news story show Ferreira lived with Michael Leavitt Sr., Karoline’s brother, and their young son. Family photos from that period depict the three together, smiling.
Leavitt has not commented publicly, and Michael Leavitt Sr., now remarried, also did not respond to requests for comment.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Ferreira has a prior arrest for battery and overstayed a tourist visa in 1999, when she was a child. “All individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation under current policy,” the spokesperson said.
Ferreira is currently held at an ICE facility in Louisiana. Rodrigues described the arrest as abrupt and frightening. “They were not gentle with her,” she said.
A GoFundMe for Ferreira has raised nearly $20,000. The page notes she has followed all DACA rules and has always tried to maintain legal status. Rodrigues emphasized her sister’s long history in the U.S.: “She’s been here since she was six. This is her home.”
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
