Woman with family ties to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt released from ICE custody

By Chris Boyette, CNN

(CNN) — A woman with family ties to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is being released on bond from ICE custody after being arrested last month near Boston, according to her lawyer.

Immigration Judge Cynthia Goodman on Monday ordered the release of Bruna Ferreira, 33, from the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Todd Pomerleau, an attorney for Ferreira, said. The facility is about 80 miles from Baton Rouge and more than 1,500 miles from where Ferreira was arrested.

Bond was set at $1,500, the lowest amount allowed under the law, according to Pomerleau.

In court Monday, Ferreira’s attorneys argued “she’s not a danger, she’s not a flight risk,” Pomerleau said.

The lawyer representing the Department of Homeland Security did not fight the defense argument and waived appeal, according to Pomerleau.

CNN has reached out to DHS for comment.

Ferreira was arrested while driving to pick up her 11-year-old son from New Hampshire, Pomerleau told CNN. Ferreira was previously engaged to the boy’s father, Michael Leavitt, and the two share custody, Pomerleau said.

Michael Leavitt is the brother of Karoline Leavitt.

Pomerleau said he didn’t know exactly when Ferreira would be released, as it depended on ICE receiving the judge’s order and her family paying the bond.

Then she will return to Massachusetts and her case will be transferred back to Boston immigration court.

It’s all part of what Pomerleau called the “unconstitutional merry-go-round.”

Another of Ferreira’s attorneys said she just wants to be with her son.

“She has established her entire life here in the United States since she has been a child,” attorney Jeffrey Rubin said. “She looks forward to reuniting with her son and getting back to her life as a hard-working business owner.”

A DHS spokesperson previously told CNN that Ferreira was in the US illegally after overstaying a tourist visa that required her to leave the country in June 1999. Ferreira is “a criminal illegal alien from Brazil,” DHS said.

Pomerleau said the DHS statement is inaccurate.

Ferreira’s attorney said she was a former recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which grants temporary protection from deportation for those brought to the US as children, but was unable to renew her status a few years ago during President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the program during his first administration and is currently in the middle of a “lawful immigration process” for US citizenship.

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CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo and Karina Tsui contributed to this report.