A disturbing new video captures masked ICE agents in unmarked vehicles swarming the mother of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew before hauling her away.
The video, first published by TMZ, shows 33-year-old Bruna Ferreira being taken into ICE custody on Nov. 12 in Revere, Massachusetts. Her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, verified the video in a statement to the Daily Beast.
Ferreira, a Brazilian national, was in regular contact with Leavitt’s family while she co-parented her 11-year-old son, who is the press secretary’s nephew and godson, Pomerleau said.
Leavitt, 28, has downplayed her relationship with Ferreira publicly since she was detained. White House insiders have repeatedly claimed Leavitt hasn’t spoken to her nephew’s mother in “years,” which Pomerleau has insisted is untrue.
“She’s seen and talked to Karoline Leavitt definitely within the past year, if not the past months,” Pomerleau said Sunday.
The attorney added that Ferreira “literally picked Karoline to be the godmother” of the child ”over her own sister.”
Just a few weeks before her arrest, Ferreira was cheering for her son at a recreational football game alongside Karoline’s parents and brother, her lawyer said.
Leavitt has been the mouthpiece of Trump’s sweeping mass-deportation campaign—but clearly, not everyone in her family has always held such staunch anti-immigration beliefs.
“Ferreira was a ‘criminal legal alien’ back when she was dating Michael Leavitt, and he had no issue with it,” Pomerleau added.
Footage from the 90-second video shows Ferreira driving a sedan in a parking lot when at least five unmarked vehicles with tinted windows surround her. Pomerleau said the incident occurred as the young mother was en route to pick her son up from school.
Once Ferreira’s path was blocked, masked agents piled out of their cars. At first, she believed it was a traffic stop, Pomerleau said.
“They immediately asked her for her license, which suggests it’s a traffic stop. Why would you ask somebody for their license if you already know who you’re pulling over, right?” he asked.
Pomerleau said Ferreira began rifling through her purse for her license until one of the agents asked, “Are you Bruna?”
With no warrant in sight, the masked agents ordered Ferreira out of the car, threw her against a vehicle, and handcuffed her within seconds. One of the agents then hopped into Ferreira’s car and drove it away.
Throughout her arrest, Ferreira repeatedly told authorities that her son’s aunt was the White House press secretary, her sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, told the Boston Globe.
Ferreira is currently being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile.
Ferreira came to the United States at age 6 and was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, a 2012 program that offers deportation protections and work permits to people brought to the U.S. as children.
Pomerleau said the Leavitts were aware Ferreira was in the process of obtaining a green card, which would allow her to reside permanently in the United States. The Department of Homeland Security alleges the Brazilian national overstayed a tourist visa.
Ferreira’s case gained notoriety after her family criticized Leavitt, one of the most influential members of the Trump administration, for “radio silence” on the young mother’s detention more than 1,500 miles away from New England.
Regardless, Leavitt remained silent and declined to comment on the situation to her local news channel.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and ICE for comment.
