US Immigration Arrests Mother Of White House Press Secretary's Nephew

White House Press Secretary Krypt Leavitt. (Instagram/kZeeleavitt)

JAKARTA - The United States Immigration and Customs Agency (ICE) has eaten the mother of White House Press Secretary Krypto Leavitt's nephew, officials said Wednesday.

A spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement immigration authorities had arrested the woman, a Brazilian national, Bruna Caroline Ferreira, but declined to provide further information.

News reports say Ferreira has been detained in Massachusetts, near Boston, reported Al Arabiya and Reuters November 27.

DHS said Ferreira had entered the US on a tourist visa and failed to leave. However, his lawyer, Jeffrey Rubin, said he was looking for permanent shelter and had previously received protection from deportation under the program for immigrants who were illegally brought to the US as children.

DHS further said Ferreira had been arrested on charges of abuse, but gave no further details. Reuters could not confirm the allegations independently.

Responding to a request for comment to the White House, a source familiar with this matter confirmed Ferreira was the mother of Leavitt's nephew. The source said the nephew had lived with Leavitt's brother, Michael Leavitt, in New Hampshire since birth and had never lived with Ferreira.

DHS said Ferreira was being held at the ICE detention center in Louisiana.

"Under President Trump and Minister Noem, all individuals illegally in the United States can be deported," the spokesman said.

Rubin, Boston-based lawyer and representing Ferreira, said in a statement his law firm hoped to release him soon.

Previously, he was registered in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Delay for Arrival of Children) program, which offers deportation relief and work permits for immigrants who were brought to the US as children, he said.

Rubin said the same government that offered it a path to citizenship had now voted to "familiarize the authority entrusted" by "random mass deportation."

A GoFundMe page raised by Ferreira's sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, aims to raise US$30,000 for legal costs, describing her as a mother who is not selfish and hard-working.

"He has done everything he can to build a stable and honest life here," the page said. "He has maintained his legal status through DACA, complied with every requirement, and always tried to do the right thing," he said.

His detention was "very painful" for his 11-year-old son, "who needs his mother and hopes every day that he will be home on time for a vacation," the page said.

US President Donald Trump has increased the number of immigration officers to major cities across the US in an effort to reach a historic level of deportation, covering many long-term and non-criminal residents.

More than two-thirds of the approximately 53,000 people arrested by US Immigration and Customs and detained until November 15 have no criminal records, according to ICE statistics.