By Holly Ramer – The Associated Press
An immigration judge granted bail this Monday to the former sister-in-law of the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, a Brazilian immigrant who was arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE).
Bruna Ferreira33, a long-time Massachusetts resident, was engaged to the brother of Donald Trump’s spokesperson, Michael Leavitt. The woman was on her way to pick up her 11-year-old son from his New Hampshire school when she was detained by ICE agents on November 12, in the city of Revere.
Ferreira was taken to a detention center in Louisiana, where an immigration judge ordered her release on $1,500 bail, said her attorney, Todd Pomerleau.
“We argued that he did not represent a danger or flight risk,” the lawyer said in a text message. “The Government accepted our argument and at no time did it allege that she was an undocumented foreigner with a criminal record.” and gave up appealing.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) indicated this Monday that “ICE arrested Bruna Caroline Ferreira, an illegal alien with a criminal record from Brazil. She has a record of assault. She entered the United States with a B2 tourist visa that required her to leave the country before June 6, 1999. A judge appointed by [el presidente] Biden granted him the possibility of paying bail. If she pays it, she will be released while the deportation process continues. He must report periodically to ICE authorities to ensure that he complies with the conditions of his release.”
He added that “the Department of Homeland Security will continue working to expel as soon as possible all foreigners who are illegally in the country. As the department has always maintained, all illegal aliens can avoid legal problems if they choose self-expulsion in a dignified manner, with an aid of $1,000, a free flight to their country and the possibility of legally re-entering the United States in the future.”
DHS had previously called Ferreira an “illegal alien with a criminal record” and claimed she had been arrested for assault, an allegation her attorney denied.
Pomerleau added that her client came to the United States as a child and later took advantage of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama-era policy that protects immigrants who were brought to the country as minors from deportation.
The lawyer added that Ferreira was in the process of applying for a green card.
Karoline Leavitt grew up in New Hampshire and unsuccessfully ran for Congress in that state in 2022, before becoming Trump’s spokesperson for his 2024 campaign and later assuming the position of press secretary.
