Karoline Leavitt's Nephew's Mom Speaks Out About Her Arrest by ICE

Karoline Leavitt can call herself whatever she wants, but it doesn't mean she's acting like a righteous woman ... so says the mother of her nephew and godson, who was detained last month.

Bruna Caroline Ferreira appeared on Erin Burnett's CNN show Friday ... and, she laid into the White House press secretary -- telling Erin she'd want to tell Karoline, "Just because you went to a Catholic school doesn't make you a good Catholic."

She added, "You are a mother now. How would you feel if you were ... in my shoes?" Karoline and her husband, Nicholas Riccio, welcomed their first child together in July 2024.

Ferreira also notes she and Michael Leavitt -- Karoline's brother -- chose KL to be her son's godmother instead of her own sister ... almost certainly deepening feelings of betrayal.

Bruna adds she simply can't wrap her mind around this ... and, she just hopes Karoline has some sort of "logical explanation" for the way she's acting.

As you know ... Ferreira was arrested near Boston in mid-November -- and, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told us Ferreira, who is from Brazil,  entered the U.S. on a B2 tourist visa that required her to leave the U.S. by June 6, 1999.

DHS also alleged she had a prior arrest for battery ... and reaffirmed the administration's commitment to deporting all people in the country illegally.

Video captured Bruna leaving her driveway ... when five unmarked cars blocked her path, removed her from the car and walked her away in handcuffs.

Ferreira and Leavitt's son reportedly lives with him full-time. Her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, told us, "Bruna had no problem whatsoever with the Leavitt family. Karoline is her son’s godmother, chosen over her own sister, and Michael Sr. is a very good father. Bruna was en route to pick up her son Michael Jr. after school like she did several days a week. He lived with her till kindergarten, but now awaits for his mother's warm embrace."