The mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew was ordered released from an immigration detention facility in Louisiana on Monday — nearly two weeks after she was nabbed in Massachusetts.
Bruna Caroline Ferreira was detained by agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement while she was en route to pick up her son from school on Nov. 26.
An immigration judge ordered her released on a $1,500 bond, even though the Department of Homeland Security labeled her a “criminal illegal alien.”
Bruna Ferreira / Facebook
Ferreira was working toward obtaining her green card, her attorney Todd Pomerleau said. She was born in Brazil, but was previously permitted to stay in the US under the Obama-era DACA law, the lawyer added.
Pomerleau told ABC News that Ferreira is expected to be released on Monday or Tuesday.
A DHS spokesperson previously said that Ferreira had a criminal record with an arrest for battery plus an overstay on a visa that expired in June 1999.
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Pomerleau told ABC that Ferreira “has no criminal record whatsoever” and demanded DHS “show us proof” of previous arrests.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Pomerleau said that DHS may be referencing Ferreira’s decades-old summons to juvenile court after a tussle with another girl outside a Dunkin’ Donuts.
The two girls were reportedly haggling over $8, but Ferreira was never arrested, and the case was dismissed soon after, Pomerleau told the outlet.
Ferreira was previously engaged to Leavitt’s older brother, Michael Leavitt, and they share joint custody of their 11-year-old son.
Michael Leavitt told New Hampshire TV station WMUR that their son has lived with him since birth, a statement that Pomerleau refuted.
