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muriel_volestrangler

(106,201 posts)
Wed Feb 25, 2026, 07:08 PM Feb 25

Blind refugee abandoned by Border Patrol is dead

Source: Investigative Post

Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a nearly blind refugee from Burma who Border Patrol agents dropped off at a doughnut shop Thursday and left to find his way home, 5 miles away, has been found dead.
...
Shah Alam, a Rohingya refugee, had been missing since February 19. He was released that afternoon from custody at the Erie County Holding Center after posting bail. In response to an immigration detainer that had been placed on him, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office contacted U.S. Border Patrol prior to his release, according to spokesperson Christopher Horvatits.
...
After taking custody of Shah Alam, Border Patrol agents dropped him off at a Tim Hortons on Niagara Street in the Black Rock neighborhood, Macaluso said, shortly after 8 p.m. Shah Alam and his family live in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood on the East Side, according to Fazal.

Neither he nor Shah Alam’s family were notified of his release. Macaluso previously told Investigative Post he expected Shah Alam to be taken to the ICE detention center in Batavia and that his client would be released from there.



Read more: https://www.investigativepost.org/2026/02/25/blind-refugee-abandoned-by-border-patrol-is-dead/



This dates back to February 2025:

Shah Alam had been in the Erie county holding center for the past year, after being arrested by Buffalo police in 2025 on charges of assault, trespassing and possession of a weapon. The arrest stemmed from an incident in which Shah Alam got lost while on a walk and ended up on the porch of a woman’s home. He had been using a curtain rod as a walking stick, according to his attorney.

The woman called the police, and when Shah Alam did not follow police commands to drop his curtain rod, they tasered and beat him, his attorney said.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/25/border-patrol-refugee-buffalo

Statement from Mayor Sean M. Ryan on Death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The preventable death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam is deeply disturbing and a dereliction of duty by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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. That decision from U.S. Customs and Border Protection was unprofessional and inhumane.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection must answer for how and why this happened.

Buffalo is a city that welcomes refugees and believes government should protect human dignity, not endanger it. U.S. Customs and Border Protection failed that basic standard.

https://www.buffalony.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/1614

So after a year in custody, he's "released" - but taken by CBP to a place he doesn't know, in a vicious Buffalo winter, and no-one who knows him is notified. He doesn't speak English, and is basically blind.

This is the CBP equivalent of abandoning someone on an icefloe, or a newborn child on a hillside.
24 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Blind refugee abandoned by Border Patrol is dead (Original Post) muriel_volestrangler Feb 25 OP
Monstrous BlueWaveNeverEnd Feb 25 #1
Effing murderers. wnylib Feb 25 #2
Unprofessional, incompetent, and cruel. Whyisthisstillclose Feb 25 #3
CBP IS BY FAR THE WORST montanacowboy Feb 25 #4
Malice aforethought? BaronChocula Feb 25 #5
My god. mzmolly Feb 25 #6
So many crimes. mysteryowl Feb 25 #7
arrest every agent involved for murder moonshinegnomie Feb 25 #8
You are some sick motherf*ckers that deserve some excruciating pain in your lives. Buddyzbuddy Feb 25 #9
I can't help but say not only does ICE and CBP need to be completely slightlv Feb 25 #10
That's been my opinion all along Jilly_in_VA Feb 26 #21
I agree the Homeland Security made us sound like we were trying to imitate slightlv Feb 26 #22
Fucking monsters. Martin68 Feb 25 #11
Did this take place in Buffalo NY? The story doesn't make clear where it happened FakeNoose Feb 25 #12
This Reuters article saays it happened in Buffalo RazorbackExpat Feb 26 #14
They killed him all the same as if they put a bullet in his head. LudwigPastorius Feb 25 #13
The most ridiculous statement I've ever heard: Bayard Feb 26 #15
Or he had a heart attack from the stress of his helpless situation ... SomewhereInTheMiddle Feb 26 #16
Who dumps a helpless blind man on the street in a Buffalo winter? SunSeeker Feb 26 #17
The Cowards of ICE. If they drove him 5 miles home the goons might not have travelingthrulife Feb 26 #20
He was using a curtain rod as a walking stick wolfie001 Feb 26 #18
Abolish ICE. travelingthrulife Feb 26 #19
There needs to be some fucking ICE heads rolling after this Blue Owl Feb 26 #23
MOTHERFUCKERS! hatrack Feb 26 #24
3. Unprofessional, incompetent, and cruel.
Wed Feb 25, 2026, 07:27 PM
Feb 25

I am sure we are only hearing a fraction of the horror stories this administration is facilitating. Our government is no better than a common crime ring.

slightlv

(7,789 posts)
10. I can't help but say not only does ICE and CBP need to be completely
Wed Feb 25, 2026, 10:01 PM
Feb 25

disbanded in its current form, but every single individual who has drawn a paycheck from them needs to be cited, arrested, tried, and convicted for crimes against humanity. We can't just release these same people into the general population. They have a track record now of hostility and getting away with it. You think they won't just do it on their own when the departments go belly up? And they'll concentrate on the same individuals they do now -- anyone who's skin isn't lily white or who doesn't have a penis.

Jilly_in_VA

(14,361 posts)
21. That's been my opinion all along
Thu Feb 26, 2026, 01:23 PM
Feb 26

They are rotten to the core and both services to be dissolved and reformed, preferably under new names. Every single one of these people needs to be scrutinized and gone over with a fine tooth comb. Only the very cleanest need to be let back in. The rest need to be dishonorably discharged or at the very most, given "general discharges".

Also, the "Department of Homeland Security" needs to be dissolved and all of its subsidiaries placed back into the departments they were previously in before this stupid and monstrous thing was created. It always sounded kind of Nazi to me anyway.

slightlv

(7,789 posts)
22. I agree the Homeland Security made us sound like we were trying to imitate
Thu Feb 26, 2026, 03:29 PM
Feb 26

the Nazi's. They didn't dare go so far as call it the "Fatherland" (which you KNOW they really wanted to do!)... but still. As a weird aside, rewatching Star Trek icard... one section of it shows just how OVER policed we are. If one office doesn't track and get you for something, three others will.

I will now say we need not only to get rid of these three most hostile to our rights and liberties, but we need to completely rethink law enforcement in this country. Pare it down to the least necessary, and ensure it doesn't do "mission creep" from there. Rein in the FBI and CIA... and have some public accountability before they go start regime change in other countries. WE need to have more input into what the government... ALL aspects of it... do in OUR names. And we're not going to get it unless we demand it in some of the Reconciliation Courts that are going to have to arise after trump is unseated from his throne. Though, gods, I'd love to do it while his butt is STILL sitting there!

FakeNoose

(41,622 posts)
12. Did this take place in Buffalo NY? The story doesn't make clear where it happened
Wed Feb 25, 2026, 10:46 PM
Feb 25

They also mention Erie, but that could be PA or NY, or somewhere else.

Bayard

(29,679 posts)
15. The most ridiculous statement I've ever heard:
Thu Feb 26, 2026, 12:36 AM
Feb 26

"the cause of death was determined by the medical examiner to be “health related in nature,” ruling out death by exposure and homicide."

Its pretty obvious the man froze to death after being abandoned in a Buffalo winter.

16. Or he had a heart attack from the stress of his helpless situation ...
Thu Feb 26, 2026, 02:39 AM
Feb 26

Last edited Thu Feb 26, 2026, 05:30 AM - Edit history (2)

Or he got really sick in jail and they turfed him out rather than have him die in custody. Or he was weak from mistreatment, and he was released with no money or phone, and died of dehydration.

There could be many ways the coroner was correct but the Regime is still at fault.

travelingthrulife

(5,179 posts)
20. The Cowards of ICE. If they drove him 5 miles home the goons might not have
Thu Feb 26, 2026, 11:05 AM
Feb 26

made their arrest quota for the day.

wolfie001

(7,665 posts)
18. He was using a curtain rod as a walking stick
Thu Feb 26, 2026, 07:59 AM
Feb 26

That's what got him tazed by these racist nazi thugs. One of the more horrid stories from America's Racist Debacle 2026. Thanks to the disgusting fat orange imbecile. 🔵🔵🔵🔵

hatrack

(64,878 posts)
24. MOTHERFUCKERS!
Thu Feb 26, 2026, 07:25 PM
Feb 26

Whoever did this needs to do hard time, for decades.

Fuck ICE, fuck CBP, fuck their "tactical" bullshit, fuck their "mission".

Most of all, fuck the people who inflicted them on the rest of us.

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