Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, was a nearly blind Rohingya refugee from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, his family said.
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A nearly blind Rohingya refugee from Myanmar has been found dead in Buffalo, New York, days after U.S. Border Patrol abandoned him miles from his home after being released from a county jail, authorities said.
A Buffalo Police Department spokesperson said Wednesday that officers discovered the body of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, in the upstate New York city Tuesday night.
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Shah Alam had been missing since Feb. 19, when U.S. Border Patrol dropped him off at a coffee shop after he was released from the county jail.
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, almost blind and unable to speak English, was left alone on a cold winter’s night with no attempt made to get him somewhere safe,” Ryan said.
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s decision was unprofessional and inhumane,” he added.
On Wednesday, several U.S. lawmakers called for an investigation into the circumstances of Shah Alam’s death, including Grace Meng, a Democrat who represents a New York City area, who called it “a shocking violation of responsibility and basic humanity by federal enforcement.”
According to Reuters, one of Shah Alam’s children, Mohammad Faisal, said no one, neither his family nor his lawyer, had told his father where authorities had left him after he was released from prison.
Faisal said his family are Rohingya refugees from Myanmar’s Arakan state (officially known as Rakhine state) and his father cannot read, write or use electronic devices.
He said his father’s arrest a year ago was due to a misunderstanding after police were alerted when Shah Alam wandered onto private property carrying a curtain rod he had bought as a cane because he was visually impaired.
Faisal said her father was unable to understand when English-speaking police told him to lower the curtain rod, and was held in jail for nearly a year before being released on a misdemeanor plea deal.
The father added that all he wanted to do was “eat home-cooked food” and “be together with the rest of the family.”
A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement to the Buffalo-based Investiative Post that agents dropped off Shah Alam at a coffee shop after they determined he entered the country as a refugee and could not be deported.
“A Border Patrol agent offered him a ride, but rather than be released directly from the Border Patrol station, he chose to accept a ride to a coffee shop in a warm, safe location near his last known address,” the agency said.
“He showed no signs of distress, impaired mobility or special needs,” the spokesperson said.
Temperatures in Buffalo, a city near the Canadian border, were below freezing last weekend.
A Buffalo Police Department spokesperson said the death was being investigated by homicide detectives, according to Reuters.
Shah Alam’s death comes amid increased scrutiny of the immigration crackdown implemented by US President Donald Trump’s administration.
At least six immigrants have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody since the beginning of this year.
