On Nov. 25, 2025, news broke that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's brother's ex-fiancee, Bruna Caroline Ferreira, had been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to multiple reports, Ferreira and Michael Leavitt had an 11-year-old son together — though they reportedly separated years prior. Ferreira's lawyer said they shared custody of the child.
The claim originated with Boston's National Public Radio station, WBUR (archived), before it spread to multiple news media outlets, including The New York Times (archived) and The Associated Press (archived). Several highly-circulated posts (archived, archived, archived) on social media received millions of views:
Multiple reports reportedly relied on testimony from the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, as well as Ferreira's lawyer and her sister, and below we break down what primary evidence was available as of this writing.
We reached out to the DHS, ICE and Ferreira's lawyer's firm seeking corroboration of their statements reported in the media, and have not received responses as of this writing. We also reached out to the White House for comment and did not immediately receive a response. We will update this story if we do.
DHS said in a statement:
ICE arrested Bruna Caroline Ferreria, a criminal illegal alien from Brazil. 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. She is currently at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center and is in removal proceedings. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, all individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation.
Ferreira's lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, told The New York Times that Ferreira, 33, was born in Brazil and entered the U.S. with her family as a child on a tourist visa that required her to leave the U.S. in 1999. Pomerleau told The Washington Post: "She was arrested, was never told why, and shipped to the South."
We searched Ferreira's name in an ICE detainee database and found someone with her name from Brazil detained at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, which is consistent with reports claiming ICE was holding her at a center in Louisiana:
(ice.gov)
Ferreira's sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, told The Boston Globe that Michael Leavitt and her sister broke up more than a decade ago, though she said they shared custody of their son, who she said lived primarily in New Hampshire. Dos Santos Rodrigues launched a GoFundMe fundraiser for Ferreira's release that features photos of Ferreira with a child who appears to be her son:
(gofundme.com)
Michael Leavitt, who reportedly told the media he didn't want to speak on camera for the sake of his son's privacy, told New Hampsire TV news station WMUR that their son had not spoken to Ferreira since she was was detained but that the two had maintained a relationship.
We searched for primary evidence of the relationship between Micheal Leavitt and Ferreira, and found an October 2014 article in The Salem News detailing how Michael Leavitt won $1 million in a fantasy football contest. In a photo, Ferreira appears beside him and their son:
(salemnews.com)
Some reports, such as The Guardian's, quoted an anonymous White House source who reportedly claimed Michael Leavitt and Ferreira's son "has lived full time in New Hampshire with his father since he was born. He has never resided with his mother."
However, in the 2014 Salem News story, Ferreira said (emphasis ours), "I need the lights fixed on the back of my car. And we need a lamp for my son's room. Other than that, we don't really need much. We have our health. We have a nice condo. We really are blessed."
Several reports claimed Ferreira reportedly had a battery offense on her record, an accusation her lawyer denied.
In sum, we found someone with the same name and country of origin as Ferreira detained in a Louisiana ICE facility. While Karoline Leavitt has not, as of this writing, made any public statement regarding her reported familial connection to Ferreira, we found primary evidence corroborating Michael Leavitt and Ferreira's history. Additionally, Michael Ferreira reportedly confirmed the details of Ferreira's arrest in a conversation with a New Hampshire TV station.