A woman with family ties to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has been released on bond from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Louisiana. The judge released 33-year-old Brazilian Bruna Ferreira on a $1,500 bond, allowing her to remain free while she fights against a possible deportation.
Ferreira, who shares custody of her 11-year-old son with her ex-fiancé Michael Leavitt — the brother of the White House press secretary — was surprisingly and unexpectedly arrested by ICE agents on November 12 while on her way to pick up her son from school. She had been held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center for the past month.
Freed to Fight Deportation Threat
On Monday, Immigration Judge Cynthia Goodman released Ferreira on the lowest possible bail amount. Ferreira's lawyer, Jason Thomas, told the judge that the government's description of his client as a "criminal illegal alien" with a past battery arrest is "both unfair and untrue."
In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Ferreira said that Karoline Leavitt had been chosen as her son's godmother.
The Department of Homeland Security's attorney, Lucas Vega, did not oppose the judge's decision to release Ferreira on bond. Historically, the Trump administration has often pushed to limit bond for undocumented immigrants, but in this case, Vega agreed with her defense that Ferreira poses no danger to society and is not a flight risk.
Ferriera's lawyers also stressed that she continues to share custody of her son with Leavitt's brother and remains in regular contact with the Leavitt family. Ferreira has even described Karoline Leavitt as someone she once considered like a younger sister.
No More Tension
Ferreira has no prior criminal record and has been a long-time resident of Massachusetts. Her attorneys pointed out that she entered the U.S. without documentation at the age of six and has spent years trying to obtain legal citizenship.
Ferreira's lawyers also said that she had previously avoided deportation thanks to the Obama-era immigration program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
Ferreira told the court that before her arrest, she was deeply involved in her son's life — driving him to school, taking him to places like Dave & Buster's, cheering at his sports games, and buying him gifts, including teddy bears, video games, and boxing gloves.
She added that it feels insulting to be behind bars, facing potential deportation to Brazil, when she has spent the vast majority of her life in the United States.
