Washington, D.C. | November 4:Two US courts have ordered immigration authorities to stop the deportation of Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam, a 64-year-old Indian-origin man who spent more than four decades in prison for a murder conviction that was recently overturned.
Vedam, who arrived in the US as an infant, was released from a Pennsylvania prison on October 3 after a court found that prosecutors had suppressed crucial ballistics evidence in his 1983 conviction for the murder of his friend Thomas Kinser. Despite his release, Vedam was immediately detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a facility in Louisiana equipped with an airstrip used for deportations.
Last week, both an immigration judge and a Pennsylvania district court paused his deportation while the Board of Immigration Appeals reviews his case — a process that could take months.
Authorities now seek to deport Vedam over an old minor drug conviction, which still stands despite the murder charge being overturned. The Department of Homeland Security has argued that the reversal of the murder case does not affect his drug-related record.
Vedam’s lawyers and family, however, have urged leniency, arguing that his 43 years of wrongful imprisonment far outweigh the minor drug offence. During his decades behind bars, Vedam earned three degrees and became a mentor to fellow inmates.
His sister said the family remains hopeful that justice — delayed for so long — will finally prevail.