A woman with family ties to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has been released on bond from ICE custody after being arrested last month near Boston, her attorney told CNN.
A woman with family ties to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has been released on bond from ICE custody after beingarrested last monthnear Boston, her attorney told CNN.
Bruna Ferreira, 33, was on her way home to Massachusetts Tuesday morning after being released late Monday night, according to her attorney, Todd Pomerleau.
On Monday, Immigration Judge Cynthia Goodman ordered Ferreira released from the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Pomerleau said. Thefacilityis about 80 miles from Baton Rouge and more than 1,500 miles from where Ferreira was arrested.
Ferreira’s attorneys argued “she’s not a danger, she’s not a flight risk,” in court on Monday, Pomerleau said.
The lawyer representing the Department of Homeland Security did not fight the defense argument and waived appeal, according to her attorney.
Bond was set at $1,500, the lowest amount allowed under the law, according to Pomerleau, who said her case will be transferred back to Boston immigration court.
It’s all part of what Pomerleau called the “unconstitutional merry-go-round.”
DHS confirmed Ferreira was given bond and said she will be required to “have periodic mandatory check-ins with ICE law enforcement to ensure she is abiding by the terms of her release.”
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.
Jeffrey Rubin, 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,” 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’sefforts to end the programduring his first administration and is currently in the middle of a “lawful immigration process” for US citizenship.