After serving 43 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, Subramanyam 'Subu' Vedam was finally free. New evidence had exonerated him earlier this month of the murder of his former roommate.
But before he could reach his family's arms, Mr. Vedam was taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who want to deport him to India - a country he has not lived in since he was a baby.
Now, Mr. Vedam's legal team is fighting a deportation order and his family is determined to get him out of custody, for good.
His family are now working to navigate a new and very different situation, his sister Saraswathi Vedam told the BBC. Her brother has gone from a facility where he knew inmates and guards alike, where he mentored fellow inmates, and where he had his own cell, to a facility where he shares a room with 60 men.
More than 40 years ago, Mr. Vedam was convicted of murdering his once-roommate Tom Kinser, a 19-year-old college student. Kinser's body was found nine months after he went missing in a wooded area with a bullet wound in his skull. Despite asserting his innocence and lack of physical evidence against him, he was sentenced to life in prison.
Earlier this month, new evidence exonerated Mr. Vedam, and the Centre County District Attorney decided not to pursue a new trial. However, upon release, he was detained by ICE due to a prior deportation order from 1988, still based on his past convictions.
The family argues that Mr. Vedam has weak ties to India, which he left as a baby, and stated that deporting him would be another injustice inflicted upon a man who has already suffered greatly.
His lawyer, Ava Benach, emphasized that deportation would separate him from his supportive community in the US, highlighting that he remains a legal permanent resident with strong family connections in the country.
