PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Two separate courts have ordered immigration officials not to deport Subramanyam Vedam, a Pennsylvania man who spent four decades in prison before his murder conviction was overturned.
Vedam, 64, is currently detained at a short-term holding center in Alexandria, Louisiana, which has an airstrip for deportations. Known as “Subu,” he was transferred there from central Pennsylvania last week. An immigration judge stayed his deportation pending a review by the Bureau of Immigration Appeals, a process that could take months. Concurrently, Vedam’s lawyers secured a stay from a U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania, although they noted that this case might be affected by the immigration court's ruling.
Arriving in the U.S. legally from India as an infant, Vedam grew up in State College, where his father was a Penn State professor. He was serving a life sentence for his friend's 1980 murder, which was overturned earlier this year. He was released on October 3, only to find himself in immigration custody.
The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeks to deport Vedam due to a previous no-contest plea related to LSD delivery, a charge he received in his 20s. His lawyers argue that his wrongful imprisonment and the decades spent earning degrees and mentoring fellow inmates should outweigh the drug conviction. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson remarked that the reversal of his murder conviction does not erase the drug charge, emphasizing that a single conviction being vacated does not halt immigration enforcement.
Vedam's family expressed relief that two judges have halted his deportation as his immigration case is still pending, with his sister stating their hope that the appeals board will ultimately recognize the injustice in deporting someone who has lived in the U.S. since he was just nine months old.
Vedam, 64, is currently detained at a short-term holding center in Alexandria, Louisiana, which has an airstrip for deportations. Known as “Subu,” he was transferred there from central Pennsylvania last week. An immigration judge stayed his deportation pending a review by the Bureau of Immigration Appeals, a process that could take months. Concurrently, Vedam’s lawyers secured a stay from a U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania, although they noted that this case might be affected by the immigration court's ruling.
Arriving in the U.S. legally from India as an infant, Vedam grew up in State College, where his father was a Penn State professor. He was serving a life sentence for his friend's 1980 murder, which was overturned earlier this year. He was released on October 3, only to find himself in immigration custody.
The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeks to deport Vedam due to a previous no-contest plea related to LSD delivery, a charge he received in his 20s. His lawyers argue that his wrongful imprisonment and the decades spent earning degrees and mentoring fellow inmates should outweigh the drug conviction. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson remarked that the reversal of his murder conviction does not erase the drug charge, emphasizing that a single conviction being vacated does not halt immigration enforcement.
Vedam's family expressed relief that two judges have halted his deportation as his immigration case is still pending, with his sister stating their hope that the appeals board will ultimately recognize the injustice in deporting someone who has lived in the U.S. since he was just nine months old.
