The mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew is out of federal custody after weeks of headlines over her immigration status and a clash between lawyers and federal officials over whether she is a criminal.
Bruna Caroline Ferreira, who shares a child with Leavitt’s brother, was detained Nov. 12 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Revere, Massachusetts, while driving to her son’s school, according to her attorney, Todd Pomerleau. On Tuesday, he announced that she had been released on a $1,500 bond, the lowest amount allowed under immigration law.
“We argued forcefully that she was not a danger or flight risk, discussed the numerous forms of relief available to her to receive lawful permanent residency, and that the DHS’ narrative that she was a ‘criminal illegal alien’ was false as a matter of fact and law, as she has never been arrested for any crime,” Pomerleau said in a statement. He called the November detention “an unconstitutional ICE charade.”
The Department of Homeland Security pushed back Monday night, saying Ferreira is “a criminal illegal alien from Brazil.” DHS said she had previously been arrested for battery and entered the U.S. on a B2 visa requiring her to leave by June 6, 1999. The department said her release was authorized by a judge once she was placed into “removal proceedings.”
Ferreira disputed DHS’s characterization in an interview with The Washington Post, saying she overstayed her visa as a child, which is a civil violation, and grew up in the United States. She described meeting Leavitt’s brother, Michael, in a nightclub, falling in love, and later co-parenting their 11-year-old son after ending their engagement in 2015. “I asked Karoline to be godmother over my only sister,” Ferreira told the Post. “Why they’re creating this narrative is beyond my wildest imagination.”
Her attorney also told the Post she has no criminal record, though he acknowledged a 2008 juvenile court summons over a fight when she was 16. He said she was never arrested and that the case was dismissed. Juvenile records are sealed, and neither the White House nor DHS responded to NBC News’ request for comment.
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