Brazilian DACA Recipient With Ties to White House Press Secretary Released From ICE Custody on Bond

The Department of Homeland Security had previously labeled Ferreira as a "criminal illegal alien".

A Brazilian woman with family connections to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody while she contests her potential deportation, according to an immigration judge's ruling on Monday.

Bruna Ferreira, 33, who has been a long-term resident of Massachusetts, was formerly engaged to Michael Leavitt, the brother of the White House press secretary. She was apprehended by ICE agents in Revere, Massachusetts on November 12 while driving to collect her 11-year-old son in New Hampshire.

Following her arrest, Ferreira was transferred to a detention facility located in Louisiana, where an immigration judge determined she should be released on a $1,500 bond, according to her legal representative Todd Pomerleau.

"We presented the argument that she posed neither a danger nor a flight risk," Pomerleau stated in a text message. "The government agreed with our position and at no point characterized her as a criminal illegal alien, and they waived their right to appeal."

Previously, the Department of Homeland Security had described Ferreira as a "criminal illegal alien" and claimed she had been arrested for battery, an accusation that her attorney refuted. Neither the department nor Karoline Leavitt provided responses to requests for comment on Monday.

Pomerleau explained that his client arrived in the United States as a very young child and later became part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama-era policy designed to protect immigrants who were brought to the US as children. He mentioned that she was in the process of applying for permanent residency through a green card.

Karoline Leavitt was raised in New Hampshire and made an unsuccessful congressional bid from the state in 2022 before becoming Trump's campaign spokesperson for his 2024 presidential run and subsequently joining his administration at the White House.