The death of a nearly blind refugee who was dropped off by U.S. Border Patrol agents at a closed coffee shop in subfreezing temperatures has been officially ruled a homicide, according to the Erie County Medical Examiner's office, raising urgent questions about Border Patrol's treatment of vulnerable migrants and potential criminal accountability.
Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a 56-year-old refugee from Myanmar, died in February after Border Patrol agents released him from custody and abandoned him at a shuttered Tim Hortons restaurant in Buffalo, New York, late at night. Surveillance footage shows Shah Alam, who was nearly blind, "treading carefully through the empty parking lot in his county-issued jail booties, pulling his hood up against the cold."
Five days later, he was found dead on a downtown Buffalo street, several miles from where agents had left him.
The medical examiner determined Shah Alam's death was caused by complications from a perforated duodenal ulcer, "precipitated by hypothermia and dehydration." The stress ulcer breached his intestinal wall, creating a medical emergency that went untreated as he wandered the frozen city streets, unable to see clearly or find help.
The homicide ruling directly contradicts Border Patrol's official account of the incident. In a statement following Shah Alam's death, the agency claimed he "showed no signs of distress, mobility issues, or disabilities" and insisted they had offered him "a courtesy ride to a coffee shop, determined to be a warm, safe location."
That characterization now appears demonstrably false. Shah Alam was nearly blind, wearing only jail-issued clothing inadequate for February weather, and was left at a business that was clearly closed—hardly a "warm, safe location" as agents claimed.
"This wasn't negligence. This was deliberate indifference to human life," said , legal director at the Immigration Coalition.
