Two separate US courts have moved to block the deportation of Subramanyam Vedam, an Indian-origin man who spent over four decades wrongfully incarcerated for murder before his conviction was recently overturned.
The 64-year-old, known to family as 'Subu', was taken into immigration custody immediately upon his release from a Pennsylvania prison.
Vedam came to the US legally from India as an infant and grew up in State College, where his father taught at Penn State.
Vedam walked free from prison on October 3, having served more than 43 years for the 1980 murder of his friend, Thomas Kinser. His conviction, secured twice despite a lack of witnesses or clear motive, was vacated in August after his defense team presented new ballistics evidence that prosecutors had failed to disclose decades ago.
However, Vedam's long-awaited freedom was fleeting. Instead of returning home, he was immediately taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
He is currently being held at a short-term detention facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, which is notably equipped with an airstrip often used for deportations, according to the Associated Press
The rush to deport Vedam has been temporarily halted by judicial intervention.
Last week, an immigration judge ordered a pause on his deportation pending a decision by the Bureau of Immigration Appeals on whether to review his case, a process that could potentially take months. On the very same day, a district court in Pennsylvania issued its own order halting the deportation, giving his legal team crucial time.
Vedam's lawyer stated that he had an accepted application for U.S. citizenship prior to his arrest in 1982.
The Department of Homeland Security's move to remove Vedam from the country stems not from the overturned murder conviction, but from a minor drug offense conviction.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Monday that the reversal in the murder case does not negate the drug conviction.
“Having a single conviction vacated will not stop ICE’s enforcement of the federal immigration law," Tricia McLaughlin," Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, said in an email.
Vedam's sister told AP on Monday that the family is relieved “that two different judges have agreed that Subu’s deportation is unwarranted while his effort to re-open his immigration case is still pending."
“We’re also hopeful that Board of Immigration Appeals will ultimately agree that Subu’s deportation would represent another untenable injustice,” Saraswathi Vedam said, "inflicted on a man who not only endured 43 years in a maximum-security prison for a crime he didn’t commit, but has also lived in the U.S. since he was 9-months-old.”
(With inputs from Associated press)
