ALEXANDRIA, La. — Two federal courts have temporarily halted the deportation of an Indian-born man who spent more than four decades imprisoned for a murder he did not commit, only to be taken into immigration custody immediately upon his exoneration.
Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam, 64, was freed in October after new evidence cleared him of the 1983 murder of his former roommate. But instead of returning home to his family, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him and began deportation proceedings to India—a country he left as an infant and barely remembers.
The case has sparked outrage among criminal justice advocates who argue that Vedam’s wrongful imprisonment should weigh heavily against a decades-old drug conviction that ICE is using as grounds for his removal.
A Life Stolen, Then Another Injustice
Vedam moved to the United States when he was just nine months old and became a legal permanent resident. His citizenship application had been accepted before his arrest in 1983, according to his family.
While police investigated his roommate’s death, Vedam was detained on drug charges. He ultimately pleaded no contest to four counts of selling LSD and one theft charge, receiving a two-and-a-half to five-year sentence in 1984 as part of a plea agreement. That sentence was to run concurrently with the life sentence he received for murder.
After 43 years behind bars, Vedam was exonerated when new evidence proved his innocence in the murder case. But his drug conviction remains on his record—and that’s what ICE is citing, along with a 1988 deportation order, as justification for his detention.
Dual Court Stays Provide Temporary Relief
Last Thursday, an immigration judge stayed Vedam’s deportation pending a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals on whether to review his drug conviction. The same day, his attorneys secured a second stay from a U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania.
Vedam is currently being held at a short-term detention facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, equipped with an airstrip specifically for deportations. It could take several months before the immigration appeals board makes a final determination on his case.
“Truly Extraordinary” Circumstances
Ava Benach, Vedam’s immigration attorney, called his case unprecedented in its 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,” Benach told the Associated Press.
During his decades of wrongful incarceration, Vedam maintained exemplary behavior, earned three college degrees, and performed extensive community service—achievements his family believes should be considered by the immigration court.
“We believe deportation from the United States now, to send him to a country where he has few connections, would represent another terrible wrong done to a man who has already endured a record-setting injustice,” Benach said in an earlier statement.
Weak Ties to India
Vedam’s attorneys have emphasized that he has virtually no connection to India beyond his birth. He was raised entirely in the United States, and his family, community, and life are here.
ICE has maintained that it is simply executing a lawfully issued deportation order based on Vedam’s criminal record. The agency confirmed it acted on the 1988 order and the standing drug conviction.
The outcome of Vedam’s case could hinge on whether immigration officials determine that his wrongful imprisonment—one of the longest in U.S. history—outweighs a drug offense committed more than 40 years ago when he was barely out of his teens.
For now, the two court stays have bought Vedam time, but his future in the only country he’s ever known remains uncertain.
