US courts block deportation of Indian-origin man wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years

After spending 43 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit, Indian-origin Subramanyam Vedam has won a temporary reprieve from being deported from the United States. Two American courts have ordered immigration officials not to remove the 64-year-old, who has lived in the US since he was a baby, while his case undergoes review.

Vedam, affectionately known as “Subu,” was nine months old when his parents legally immigrated from India. He grew up in State College, Pennsylvania, where his father taught at Penn State University.

Despite being a lawful permanent resident and having his citizenship application accepted before his arrest in 1982, Vedam’s life took a devastating turn when he was accused of murdering his friend, Thomas Kinser, in 1980.

He was twice convicted despite a lack of witnesses or motive. His legal team later uncovered suppressed ballistics evidence that proved critical to his exoneration, leading a judge to overturn his conviction in August this year.

Vedam was scheduled for release on October 3 from a Pennsylvania prison after four decades of wrongful incarceration. Instead, he was immediately taken into the custody of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and transferred to a deportation facility in Alexandria, Louisiana — one equipped with its own airstrip for removals.

ICE moves to deport over decades-old drug plea

ICE is seeking Vedam’s deportation based on a decades-old no-contest plea to charges of LSD delivery, filed when he was about 20. His attorneys argue that the extraordinary injustice of his wrongful imprisonment — during which he earned degrees and mentored fellow inmates — far outweighs the minor drug case from his youth.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson maintained that the overturned murder conviction does not affect the earlier drug charge. “Having a single conviction vacated will not stop ICE’s enforcement of federal immigration law,” said Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs.