US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained the mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt's nephew, who is also facing deportation to Brazil.
According to a report by NBC News, the ICE agents took the woman into custody in Massachusetts this month.
Bruna Caroline Ferreira, who has an 11-year-old son with Leavitt's brother - Michael Leavitt - is currently held at a facility in Louisiana.
The Department of Homeland Security said that Ferreira entered the US on a B2 tourist visa.
Ferreira was arrested on suspicion of battery. A DHS spokesperson said that she is a "criminal illegal alien from Brazil" who overstayed her tourist visa that had expired in June 1999.
However, Leavitt's nephew has lived with his father since he was born and has not spoken to his mother in several years.
Michael Leavitt said in a statement to WBUR, "My only concern has always been the safety, well-being, and privacy of my son".
Todd Pomerleau, Ferreira's lawyer, said that she "maintained her legal status" under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, adding, "She's in the process of actually getting her green card and she was abruptly arrested and taken from her young child right before Thanksgiving."
"Bruna has no criminal record whatsoever," he said. "I don't know where that is coming from. Show us the proof. There's no charges out there. She's not a criminal illegal alien."
The Trump administration has advanced an aggressive immigration agenda since taking office earlier this year.
"All individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation," the DHS said.
