Woman faces deportation after reporting assault to Michigan police, lawyer says
A woman caught the attention of law enforcement when she reported to Michigan police that a co-worker assaulted and threatened her, court documents say.
Now, the mother could be deported and forced to live in another country separate from her 25-year-old and 32-year-old children, her lawyer said in federal court documents.
“They are close-knit, respect their mother and recognize the risks their mother took to give them better lives,” the attorney said in a sentencing memorandum on July 1.
Veronica Ramirez-Verduzco had been working at an assisted living facility helping memory care patients for five years when she faced verbal harassment and threats “out of thin air” from a co-worker, according to court documents.
She reported it to her supervisor, then to Van Buren Township police when the co-worker “yanked her hair and threw her to the floor, punching her repeatedly in the face,” her attorney said. The co-worker was suspended, then eventually returned to work.
On March 21, Ramirez-Verduzco was abruptly fired from her job without explanation, her attorney said.
“The supervisor could not explain why and cried and hugged Ms. Ramirez-Verduzco as she walked her out of the facility,” according to court documents.
She got into her car and was then surrounded by unmarked cars and several men in masks without identifying badges, her lawyer said. She was “dragged out of her car through the window” and thrown into the unmarked vehicle,” according to the memorandum.
Ramirez-Verduzco, a Mexican citizen, was charged and later pleaded guilty to illegally re-entering the United States after she had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization in 2013, according to court documents.
Now, she faces deportation and will be turned over to immigration officials upon completion of her sentence, which has not been determined, according to the sentencing memorandum.
“She is likely to be held at one of the many overcrowded ‘detention’ facilities, where showers are a rarity, medical attention is non-existent, and food is weeks old,” her attorney said.
Ramirez-Verduzco’s attorney is asking the federal judge for a sentence of time served, according to the document.
Van Buren Township is about a 30-mile drive southwest from Detroit.
This story was originally published July 16, 2025 at 11:14 AM with the headline "Woman faces deportation after reporting assault to Michigan police, lawyer says."
