Nurul Amin Shah Alam: Nearly blind refugee found dead in New York days after immigration agents dropped him at a coffee shop alone, officials say
The death of a nearly blind refugee in Buffalo, New York, days after Border Patrol agents dropped him off at a coffee shop alone, has prompted an investigation into the circumstances of his final days and drawn sharp criticism from the mayor, who called the incident “deeply disturbing.”
Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, who spoke little English, had been missing since February 19, when the agents left him at the shop shortly after he was released from the Erie County jail, officials said. His body was found five days later, around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, about four miles from the coffee shop, the Buffalo Police Department said.
“Homicide detectives are investigating the circumstances and timeframe of events leading up to his death, following his release from custody,” the police department said in a statement.
The Erie County Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and determined Shah Alam’s cause of death was health‑related. Exposure and homicide have been ruled out, Buffalo city spokesperson Nick Beiling said.
“A vulnerable man – nearly blind and unable to speak English – was left alone on a cold winter night with no known attempt to leave him in a safe, secure location. That decision from US Customs and Border Protection was unprofessional and inhumane,” Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan said Wednesday, calling Shah Alam’s death “preventable,” and insisting CBP “answer for how and why this happened.”
Shah Alam, a refugee from Myanmar, had spent much of the previous year in custody awaiting trial on criminal charges that were ultimately resolved with a misdemeanor plea deal, according to Reuters.
As Shah Alam’s discharge from jail was being processed, deputies notified US Border Patrol, which had earlier placed him under an immigration detainer, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
“U.S. Border Patrol arrived at the Holding Center prior to the finalization of Mr. Shah Alam’s release from Erie County Sheriff’s Office custody,” the statement said.
A spokesperson for CBP said the agents later determined Shah Alam had entered the United States as a refugee on December 24, 2024, and “was not amenable to removal.”
“Border Patrol agents 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 directly from the Border Patrol station,” the statement said. “He showed no signs of distress, mobility issues or disabilities requiring special assistance.”
Shah Alam’s February 2025 arrest stemmed from what one of his children described to Reuters as a misunderstanding with police.
Shah Alam had been out for a walk and was using a curtain rod as a walking stick when he got lost and wandered onto private property, his son Mohamad Faisal said. When he did not understand officers’ commands to drop the rod, Shah Alam was arrested.
A police report obtained by CNN affiliate WGRZ showed Shah Alam was being held on two counts of assault with intent to cause injury to an officer, a count of possession of a weapon and trespassing, among other charges, before a plea deal was reached.
CNN reached out to the Erie County District Attorney’s Office for additional information.
“Nobody told me or my family or attorney where my dad was dropped off,” Faisal told Reuters of his father’s release, adding that his father did not read, write or use electronic devices.
The family are Arakan Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, he said, referring to the stateless Muslim minority from Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled the war-torn country since late 2016 following a brutal crackdown by the military junta that the US has since declared a genocide.
Shah Alam only wanted to “eat home-cooked food” and “be united with the rest of (his) family,” Faisal told Reuters.
