NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Nurul Amin Shah Alam
Police have found the body of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, a nearly-blind Rohingya refugee from Burma who had gone missing, after immigration agents released him from custody in Buffalo, New York.
The medical examiner’s office said that Shah Alam’s death was health-related.
Buffalo police found Shah Alam on Tuesday night. He had been missing since Feb. 19. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents had picked him up on an immigration detainer, after Erie County law enforcement had held him for a separate incident. CBP agents released him near a Tim Hortons doughnut shop without notifying his family. Shah Alam could not speak English.
Rep. Grace Meng of New York, who also serves as the chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and fellow New York Rep. Tim Kennedy said in a joint statement that “[w]e are outraged by the tragic death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam.”
“U.S. Border Patrol agents left a man who was nearly blind, unable to speak English, and living with serious medical conditions miles from his home without notifying his family,” they continued. “This decision was a profound failure of duty and basic human decency that cost a man his life. There must be a full and thorough investigation into why this happened.”
Meng and Kennedy said that they would be “demanding answers and accountability from the Trump administration, including Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.”
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