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US courts block deportation of exonerated man after 43 years in prison
Two separate US courts have temporarily halted the deportation of Subramanyam "Subu" Vedam, a 64-year-old Indian-origin man who spent over four decades behind bars for a murder he did not commit, his legal team confirmed this week.
Exoneration followed by ICE detention
Vedam, a legal permanent US resident since childhood, was exonerated in October after new evidence emerged in the 1983 killing of his former roommate. However, upon his release from a Pennsylvania prison, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immediately took him into custody, citing a 1988 deportation order tied to a separate drug conviction.
He is currently held at a short-term ICE facility in Alexandria, Louisiana-a site equipped with an airstrip for deportations-while his legal team fights the removal order.
Judicial stays on deportation
Last Thursday, an immigration judge granted a stay pending a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) review of Vedam's drug-related conviction. Simultaneously, a federal district court in Pennsylvania issued its own stay, temporarily shielding him from deportation to India-a country his family insists he has no meaningful ties to.
The dual rulings buy time for Vedam's attorneys to argue that his 43 years of wrongful imprisonment-during which he earned three degrees and maintained a record of good conduct-should outweigh the decades-old drug offense that triggered the deportation order.
Legal battle ahead
ICE has justified its detention on the 1988 order, which stems from Vedam's 1984 no-contest plea to four LSD distribution charges and a theft count. Though his murder conviction was overturned, the drug conviction remains-leaving his immigration status in limbo.
Ava Benach, Vedam's immigration lawyer, called the case "truly extraordinary," arguing that his wrongful imprisonment "more than makes up" for the nonviolent drug offense committed at age 20. The BIA's decision on whether to review his case could take months.
Family and legal arguments
Vedam's family emphasizes his deep roots in the US-having arrived as a nine-month-old infant-and his rehabilitation efforts, including community service while incarcerated. In a statement to the BBC, Benach warned that deportation "would represent another terrible wrong" after what is already "a record-setting injustice."
"Forty-three years of wrongful imprisonment more than makes up for the possession with intent to distribute LSD when he was 20 years old."
Ava Benach, Vedam's immigration attorney, in remarks to the Associated Press
