The U.S. Justice Department has charged two people in Detroit with taking bribes in order to defer the deportations of immigrants.
The government says Detroit attorney Charles Busse took bribes from Iraqi, Mexican, and Albanian immigrants facing deportation, and then paid bribes to Clifton Divers, a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The scheme had Divers claiming the clients were confidential government informants in order to get the deportations deferred.
The crimes allegedly took place between 2009 and 2015.
Giovanni Tiano is Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit office of the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement about the case:
“Acts of corruption within the Department of Homeland Security represent a threat to our national security, and the Office of Inspector General is committed to doing everything possible to eradicate those who choose to place our country at risk. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) have some of the finest agents in law enforcement and this arrest today is not indicative of the selfless work the fine men and women from HSI perform every day.”
Busse is a former Warren city councilman who was charged with extortion in 2003. He was acquitted in that case.
