Refugee released by Border Patrol found dead, sparking outrage

BUFFALO — Border Patrol agents left a partially blind refugee who spoke little English in the parking lot of a Buffalo coffee shop the night of Feb. 19 shortly before the man disappeared, according to security camera footage reviewed by The Washington Post. He was found dead five days later.

Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, was found dead Tuesday evening near an arena in downtown Buffalo, about 5 miles from where the federal agents had dropped him off after they picked him up from the county jail.

Relatives had spent days searching for Shah Alam, whom they described as in poor health. The circumstances surrounding the Rohingya refugee’s death prompted an outcry from Democratic officials, who called for further investigation.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents “released a blind father from custody and left him to find his way home alone,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said Thursday. “He never made it. New Yorkers deserve answers and accountability.”

Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan said Wednesday that Shah Alam’s death was “preventable” and “deeply disturbing.” The decision by CBP personnel to leave Shah Alam alone was “a dereliction of duty,” Ryan said.

The Erie County Medical Examiner denied reports that it had established a manner or cause of death in Shah Alam’s case. “We have not provided that information to anyone,” the county health office said in a statement, and the investigation remains underway.

Shah Alam was a member of Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya minority. He arrived in the United States as a refugee in December 2024, according to a spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection. In February 2025, he was arrested during an incident where police said he trespassed in a woman’s backyard and bit two responding officers after they fired Tasers at him.

Bail was originally set at $25,000, then lowered to $5,000 in June, authorities said. Earlier this month, Shah Alam pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors and was scheduled to be sentenced in March. The district attorney said the reduced plea in Shah Alam’s case was “in the interest of justice,” noting that a felony conviction would have meant mandatory deportation.

On Feb. 19, bond was posted for Shah Alam, a spokesman for the Erie County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The sheriff’s office informed Border Patrol that Shah Alam was about to be released, it said, which it described as standard practice in cases where an agency has issued an immigration detainer. Border Patrol then took custody of Shah Alam, the sheriff’s office said.

But Border Patrol agents found that Shah Alam was not deportable, the agency spokesperson said. They offered him a “courtesy ride, which he chose to accept to a coffee shop, determined to be a warm, safe location near his last known address,” rather than be released from a Border Patrol station. Shah Alam showed “no signs of distress, mobility issues, or disabilities requiring special assistance,” the spokesperson said.

Security camera footage from a Tim Horton’s outlet the evening of Feb. 19 shows a white van arrive at the shopping plaza after 8 p.m. A man emerges from the rear door of the van wearing clothes that match the ones Shah Alam was wearing when he was arrested, as well as orange booties sometimes worn by prisoners.

The man walks slowly by the coffee shop’s drive-through window, pulling the black hood of his jacket up over his head. Around six minutes after being let out of the van, the man walks away through a parking lot then disappears from view. The video never shows him entering the coffee shop.

Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, said in a statement Thursday that her office was reviewing its legal options following Shah Alam’s death. “No one who comes here seeking refuge should be left in harm’s way,” James said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights and advocacy group, called on the New York State Police to work with authorities in Buffalo to conduct a “full, independent, and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Shah Alam’s release and death.”

The Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, which was representing Shah Alam in his criminal case, said Wednesday it was unable to offer any comment and referred inquiries to law enforcement officials.

Shah Alam’s immigration troubles began Feb. 15, 2025, less than two months after he arrived in the U.S. According to a police report, Shah Alam entered a stranger’s backyard in the city’s Riverside neighborhood and damaged a door to a shed, prompting the resident to call 911.

Bodycam footage from the incident, reviewed by The Post, shows Shah Alam standing near the door of the shed holding two black poles. Officers shout at him and order him to drop the poles, reportedly curtain rods he’d fashioned into walking sticks. Shah Alam repeatedly says, “Sorry” while adjusting his grip on the poles and walking toward the officers. The officers continue to shout and warn that they will fire their Tasers. At one point, Shah Alam responds, “No,” then points the rods at the officers.

The officers both fire their Tasers and tackle him. Two officers report being bitten in the scuffle. After Shah Alam is restrained, the officers remark that they smell alcohol.

In the footage, Shah Alam can be heard speaking in Rohingya and Malay. He asks for God’s help and tries to explain to the uncomprehending officers that he lives nearby and was going to the store. He pleads with the officers not to throw away his phone.

On Thursday afternoon, dozens of people gathered at Buffalo’s Masjid Zakariya Cemetery for Shah Alam’s burial. A group of men carried his body, wrapped in a white funeral shroud, to a freshly dug grave.

Khaleeda Shah, a representative for the family, said that after arriving in the U.S., Shah Alam had lived with his wife and two sons in a humble apartment on the city’s east side.

“They came here seeking home,” Shah said. “And home killed him.”