Judge Orders Release Of Karoline Leavitt’s Nephew’s Mother From ICE Detention On $1,500 Bond

A federal immigration judge has ordered the release of Bruna Caroline Ferreira, the mother of press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s 11-year-old nephew, after she was taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in November.

Ferreira, who was arrested in Revere, Massachusetts, on Nov. 12, is expected to be released from detention on Dec. 8 or Dec. 9, her attorney Todd Pomerleau told ABC News. The judge set her release on a minimum bond of $1,500. Ferreira is currently applying for a green card and previously had protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Details and Disputed Allegations

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told PEOPLE that Ferreira entered the United States on a tourist visa that expired in 1999 and also alleged she has a prior arrest for battery. Local reporting by Boston NPR station WBUR said it was unable to locate any criminal charges for Ferreira in Massachusetts’ online court records.

Pomerleau disputed the arrest allegation, telling CNN affiliate WMUR, "Show us the proof. There's no charges out there. She's not a criminal, illegal alien," and argued at a recent hearing that Ferreira is neither a flight risk nor a criminal offender.

Family Context And Response

Born in Brazil, Ferreira is the mother of an 11-year-old boy she shares with Michael Leavitt, the brother of former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt; the couple were previously engaged. CNN reported that Ferreira was driving to pick up her son from Michael Leavitt’s home in New Hampshire when she was detained.

From Ferreira’s family: Ferreira’s sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, launched a GoFundMe to help cover legal expenses and said their parents brought Bruna to the United States in December 1998 when she was a child. In the fundraiser description she wrote that Bruna "has maintained her legal status through DACA, followed every requirement, and has always strived to do the right thing."

Karoline Leavitt has not publicly commented on Ferreira’s detention. A source told PEOPLE in November that Leavitt and Ferreira have not spoken "in many years," and Dos Santos Rodrigues said in a Nov. 26 interview with The Boston Globe that Leavitt had not reached out to the family after the arrest.

Authorities, family members and Ferreira’s attorney provide differing accounts of the circumstances surrounding the detention. Ferreira’s release is expected to proceed after bond is posted while her immigration case continues.

Reporting referenced: ABC News, PEOPLE, CNN, WBUR, The Boston Globe.