A nearly blind refugee, missing since his release from jail into the custody of US Border Patrol, has been found dead on a downtown street.
Police officers in the upstate New York city of Buffalo located the body of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, on Tuesday evening, a police department spokesperson said.
Shah Alam, who fled from Myanmar, had been missing since Feb 19, when US Border Patrol agents dropped him off at a coffee shop miles from his home following his release from a county jail, where he had spent much of the last year awaiting trial on criminal charges that resulted in a misdemeanor plea deal.
Homicide detectives are investigating the circumstances of Shah Alam’s death, the spokesperson said.
Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan, a Democrat, said in a statement Wednesday that Shah Alam’s death was preventable and the result of “inhumane” decision-making by federal immigration authorities.
“A vulnerable man – nearly blind and unable to speak English – was left alone on a cold winter night with no known attempt to leave him in a safe, secure location,” Ryan said.
“That decision from US Customs and Border Protection was unprofessional and inhumane.”
A CBP spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement to Investigative Post, a Buffalo-based news outlet, a CBP spokesperson said agents dropped Shah Alam off at a coffee shop after agents determined he had entered the country as a refugee and could not be deported.
Temperatures in Buffalo, a city near the Canadian border, were below freezing last weekend.
The Erie County District Attorney’s Office said Shah Alam was arrested a year ago following an incident that resulted in minor injuries to two Buffalo Police officers. Shah Alam was released on bail this month after he had agreed to a plea deal, the district attorney’s office said.
Mohamad Faisal, one of Shah Alam’s children, said in a text message that his father’s arrest a year ago was due to a misunderstanding with police officers.
Shah Alam, who did not speak English, had been out for a walk and had been using a curtain rod he purchased as a walking stick, Faisal said.
Shah Alam got lost and walked onto the property of a Buffalo resident who called the police, Faisal said.
When Shah Alam did not understand police commands to drop his curtain rod, they arrested him, his son said.
Upon his release last week, “Nobody told me or my family or attorney where my dad was dropped off,” Faisal said.
Shah Alam did not read, write or use electronic devices, Faisal said.
Shah Alam only wanted to “eat home-cooked food” and “be united with the rest of family,” Faisal said.
The family are Arakan Rohingya refugees, he said. — Reuters
