A Brazilian-born woman with familial ties to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is being released from United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody as she has contested possible deportation, her lawyer has said.
Bruna Ferreira, a longtime resident of Massachusetts, received a $1,500 bond on Monday from an immigration judge at a Louisiana detention centre. Ferreira was arrested by ICE agents last month while driving to pick up her 11-year-old son in New Hampshire. She was previously engaged to Leavitt’s brother, Michael.
Her lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, said in a text message that “we argued that she wasn’t a danger or a flight risk,” and added: “The government stipulated to our argument and never once argued that she was a criminal illegal alien and waived appeal.”
The White House has sought to distance Leavitt from the case, saying in a statement that Ferreira had not spoken to the press secretary “in years”. Trump administration officials have not provided evidence for their claims about Ferreira’s history.
However, court filings, family photographs, and previous reporting indicate Ferreira lived with her son and shared custody with Michael Leavitt. In an interview with The Washington Post, Ferreira said she had chosen Karoline Leavitt to be her son’s godmother.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said in an email that Ferreira is a “criminal illegal alien” who had been detained for battery, an allegation Pomerleau denies. DHS also stated that Ferreira entered the US on a B2 tourist visa that required her to leave the country in 1999.
“She will have periodic mandatory check-ins with ICE law enforcement to ensure she is abiding by the terms of her release,” the DHS spokesperson added.
A Trump administration official described Ferreira as an absentee parent who “has never lived with her son”. The official said the child has lived full-time with Michael Leavitt in New Hampshire since birth.
Ferreira said the White House’s characterisation of her as someone who had never lived with her child is “disgusting” and untrue.
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