Mother of White House press secretary's nephew to be released on bond

A Louisiana immigration judge has granted bond to Bruna Ferreira, the 33-year-old Revere woman with family ties to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

In mid-November, Ferreira was detained in Revere by ICE. She has spent the last several weeks at an immigration lockup in Louisiana.

WBUR has detailed Ferreira’s history with the New Hampshire-based Leavitt family. She has an 11-year-old child with Michael Leavitt, an older brother of President Trump’s press secretary.

Ferreira and Leavitt have had a contentious custody battle over their son; the Leavitts insist they were not involved in Ferreira's arrest.

Ferreira is to be released on $1,500 bond. Her attorney said he expects her to be released in a few days.

Federal immigration officials described Ferreira as a "criminal illegal alien." But her lawyers have contested that, saying they do not know of any charges she has faced. WBUR located a police report from Melrose, when Ferreira was a minor, at age 16, and allegedly had a fistfight with another girl over $8.

One of her lawyers, Todd Pomerleau, said in a text that a misdemeanor “does not disqualify anyone from getting a green card, nor does it disqualify anyone from getting DACA,” or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

Ferreira came to the U.S. at age 6 from Brazil. Her family said Ferreira’s father was deported to Brazil when Ferreira was a teenager.

Ferreira will still need to fight deportation once released. It’s unclear whether the government plans to appeal the decision to grant her bond.