Wrongfully jailed for 43 years, Indian-origin man’s deportation stayed in US

Two US courts have stayed the deportation of a 64-year-old Indian-origin man who spent about 40 years in prison before his murder conviction was overturned. Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam, who is detained at a holding centre in Alexandria, Louisiana, had moved to the United States legally from India as an infant.

On Thursday, an immigration judge paused his deportation until the Board of Immigration Appeals decides whether to review his case, a process that could take many months. On the same day, his lawyers got the US District Court in Pennsylvania to stay his deportation as well; however, that case would remain on hold due to the immigration court ruling.

Who is Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam?
Vedam came to the US legally as an infant from India and grew up in State College, where his father taught at Penn State.

He had been serving a life sentence for a friend’s death in 1980 before his conviction was overturned earlier this year. On October 3, he was released from state prison but was taken directly into immigration custody.

Why is ICE looking to deport him?
The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) wants to deport Vedam over a no-contest plea to LSD delivery charges filed when he was about 20. His lawyers argue that the four decades he spent wrongfully in prison, during which he earned degrees and helped fellow inmates by tutoring, should outweigh the old case.

Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, told, “Having a single conviction vacated will not stop ICE’s enforcement of federal immigration law.”

Vedam’s sister reacts to court verdict
On Monday, Saraswathi Vedam, the Indian-origin man’s sister, said that the family is relieved “that two different judges have agreed that Subu’s deportation is unwarranted while his effort to reopen his immigration case is still pending.”

She told, “We’re also hopeful that the Board of Immigration Appeals will ultimately agree that Subu’s deportation would represent another untenable injustice. He is a man who not only endured 43 years in a maximum-security prison for a crime he didn’t commit, but has also lived in the U.S. since he was nine months old.”