Near-blind refugee found dead in Buffalo after release by US Border Patrol

• Summary

• Buffalo Mayor critical of federal immigration authorities

• CBP says Shah Alam showed no distress when dropped at coffee shop

• Shah Alam’s family says misunderstanding led to his arrest

Feb 25 (Reuters) - A nearly blind refugee from Myanmar missing since his release from a Buffalo jail into the custody of U.S. Border Patrol has been found dead on a downtown street, city authorities said on Wednesday.

Police officers in the upstate New York city located the body of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, on Tuesday evening, a Buffalo Police Department spokesperson said.

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Shah Alam had been missing since February 19, when U.S. Border Patrol agents dropped him off at a coffee shop miles from his home following his release from a county jail, where he had spent much of the last year awaiting trial on criminal charges that resulted in a misdemeanor plea deal.

Homicide detectives are investigating the circumstances of Shah Alam’s death, the spokesperson said.

Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan, a Democrat, said in a statement Wednesday that Shah Alam’s death was preventable and the result of “inhumane” decision-making by federal immigration authorities.

“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,” Ryan said. “That decision from U.S. Customs and Border Protection was unprofessional and inhumane.”

A CBP spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement to Investigative Post, a Buffalo-based news outlet, a CBP spokesperson said agents dropped Shah Alam off at a coffee shop after agents determined he had entered the country as a refugee and could not be deported.

“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 agency said. “He showed no signs of distress, mobility issues or disabilities requiring special assistance.”

Temperatures in Buffalo, a city near the Canadian border, were below freezing last weekend.

The Erie County District Attorney’s Office said Shah Alam was arrested a year ago following an incident that resulted in minor injuries to two Buffalo Police officers. Shah Alam was released on bail this month after he had agreed to a plea deal, the district attorney’s office said.

Following Shah Alam’s arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued an immigration detainer, a formal request to take custody of a noncitizen after his scheduled release from criminal detention.

In response to that immigration detainer, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office contacted U.S. Border Patrol prior to Shah Alam’s release, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said.

Mohamad Faisal, one of Shah Alam’s children, said in a text message that his father’s arrest a year ago was due to a misunderstanding with police officers.

Shah Alam, who did not speak English, had been out for a walk and had been using a curtain rod he purchased as a walking stick, Faisal said.

Shah Alam got lost and walked onto the property of a Buffalo resident who called the police, Faisal said. When Shah Alam did not understand police commands to drop his curtain rod, they arrested him, his son said.

Upon his release last week, “Nobody told me or my family or attorney where my dad was dropped off,” Faisal said.

Shah Alam did not read, write or use electronic devices, Faisal said.

Shah Alam only wanted to “eat home-cooked food” and “be united with the rest of [his] family,” Faisal said.

The family are Arakan Rohingya refugees, he said.

Reporting by Kristina Cooke in San Francisco and Jan Wolfe in New Orleans; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Michael Perry

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Kristina Cooke

Thomson Reuters

Kristina Cooke is an investigative reporter at Reuters focused on immigration. In 2025, she was part of a team of reporters who were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for coverage of the fentanyl supply chain. In 2023, she and colleagues were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for an investigation into migrant child labor in the United States. Originally from Germany, she joined Reuters in London in 2005 and is now based in San Francisco.

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