Thread: Crackdown leads to arrest of Cuban immigrant with murder conviction

East side crackdown leads to arrest of Cuban immigrant with murder conviction

12:01 PM, March 6, 2012 |
By Tresa Baldas
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Detroit's east side put on notice: Feds are cracking down on rash of violence

The federal government warned it was keeping close tabs on Detroit’s east side.

It wasn’t kidding.

On Thursday, a day after announcing a federal crackdown on the city’s east side in response to a rash of violence in Detroit, federal agents arrested a Cuban immigrant convicted of murder, manslaughter and several other crimes at a gas station on the city’s east side.

Agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Edilberto Verane, 49, at a Citgo on Kercheval street. ICE officials described Verane as an aggravated felon, having been convicted of murder in the second degree, manslaughter and various other crimes in Michigan, Arkansas and California.

He is now in federal custody while the U.S. government attempts to remove him from the country.

"This arrest is yet another example of the critical role that targeted immigration enforcement plays in keeping our communities safe,’ said Rebecca Adducci, director of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Detroit.

According to ICE, Verane entered the U.S. in 1980. He was convicted Sept. 5, 1989 in Detroit for second-degree murder and sentenced to eight-to-15 years in state prison.

About 15 years later, he was released from state custody without parole. His other criminal convictions involved carrying a knife as a weapon and carrying a concealed handgun.

Verane’s capture is part of an ongoing effort by ERO to capture -- and ultimately deport – serious criminal immigrants who have been charged with or convicted of homicide, rape, robbery, kidnapping, major drug crimes and threats to national security.

In the last three years, the immigration strategy has led to a record number of deportations. In 2011, for example, ERO removed 396,906 individuals, the largest number in the the agency's history. Of these, more than half – or nearly 216,700 individuals – were convicted of felonies or misdemeanors, an 89 percent increase in the removal of immigrant criminals since 2006.

The 2011 deportations included:

• 1,119 immigrants convicted of homicide

• 5,848 immigrants convicted of sexual offenses

• 44,653 immigrants convicted of drug-related crimes

• 35,927 immigrants convicted of drunk driving.

More than two-thirds of the other deportations involved either recent unlawful border crossers, or repeat immigration violators – those who are ordered to leave, but keep coming back.

East side crackdown leads to arrest of Cuban immigrant with murder conviction | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

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