The mother of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew was detained by federal immigration officials in Massachusetts as she was on her way to pick her son up from school on Nov. 12, according to the detainee’s lawyer.

Bruna Caroline Ferreira, who arrived from Brazil as a young child in 1998 with her parents, was taken into custody in Revere, Mass., and is accused by the Department of Homeland Security of overstaying her tourist visa.

Ferreira, 33, shares an 11-year-old son with Leavitt’s older brother, Michael, and the two share joint custody of the child, Ferreira’s attorney, Todd Pomerleau told USA TODAY. The couple was engaged about 12 years ago -and eventually broke up.

A DHS spokesperson described Ferreira as a "criminal illegal alien" with a "previous arrest for battery" without providing details.

Pomerleau said Ferreira, who is being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana, was in the final stages of getting her green card, with the last interview scheduled for the spring.

“She didn't commit a crime. She wasn't breaking the law. She was following the laws Congress created for her to get a green card, and she got detained with no justification,” said Pomerleau. “That's illegal.”

Ferriera, whom Pomerleau described as a highly involved mother who spent multiple days with her son every week, said she was on her way in the afternoon to pick her son up from school in southern New Hampshire, which is about 35 minutes from where she lives.

“She drove away from her home, and then she was pulled over, and she thought it was a traffic stop. She was apparently asked who she was and then she was arrested,” said Pomerleau. “I'm just worried about her getting out in time for Thanksgiving, which I don't think is happening unless she gets a Thanksgiving surprise.”

Pomerleau said Leavitt is “hopefully able to convince the president” to let her brother’s ex-fiancé “out of jail.”

Leavitt did not provide comments to USA TODAY but a source familiar with the dynamics between the two women said they haven't spoken to each other in years.

The source also said the that child has lived full time in New Hampshire with his father since he was born, and that he had never resided with his mother.

Meanwhile, Ferreira’s sister Graziela DosSantos Rodrigues, has started a GoFundMe page to raise money for her sister's legal bills. The effort had raised more than $17,000 as of Nov. 26 at 10 a.m.

“Bruna’s absence has been especially painful for her 11-year-old son, Michael Leavitt Junior, who needs his mother and hopes every single day that she’ll be home in time for the holidays," says Rodrigues on the GoFundMe page.

The Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration has led to a record number of arrests. In less than a year, the number of people detained in ICE facilities is up by 50%, according to the American Immigration Council.

Currently, the Department of Homeland Security has jailed close to 60,000 people and "the administration’s push for mass detentions and deportations has led to overcrowding as most facilities now exceed their contractual capacity," according to the AIC.

Ferriera was a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program recipient under the Obama administration, which allowed young, undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children to live and work legally. After the first Trump administration sought to terminate it, legal challenges have made the process long-winding.

So Ferriera, who owns and operates a cleaning service business and online clothing, decided to pursue the green card path, her lawyer said.

“She has done everything in her power to build a stable, honest life here," wrote Rodrigues, her sister, on her GoFundMe page. "She has maintained her legal status through DACA, followed every requirement, and has always strived to do the right thing. There's no rhyme or reason to what's happening here."

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ICE detains WH Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew's mother

Reporting by Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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