Calls grow for investigation into death of blind Burmese refugee after Border Patrol release

Calls for accountability are mounting weeks after a nearly blind Burmese refugee was found dead on a street in Buffalo, New York, five days after Border Patrol agents released him at a business far from his residence.

What happened: Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, was taken into custody by Border Patrol on Feb. 19 as he was being released from jail after posting bail following a plea agreement that prevented ICE detention, Investigative Post first reported. After determining he could not be deported, agents dropped him at a closed Tim Hortons several miles from his East Side home at around 8 p.m. They failed to inform his family or lawyer, both of whom had gone to the jail expecting him.

His attorney filed a missing person report on Feb. 22. A detective closed the case the next day after mistaking that Shah Alam was in ICE custody in Batavia, though it was reopened later. During those days, Buffalo reportedly suffered freezing temperatures. His body was discovered near KeyBank Center on Feb. 25.

About Shah Alam: Shah Alam, who did not speak English, fled Myanmar as a stateless Rohingya refugee and lived in Malaysia for two decades with his wife and five sons before reaching Buffalo in December 2024 with two of them (three remain in Malaysia). His vision was severely impaired, with one eye completely sightless and the other with limited, blurred sight.

In February 2025, he got lost on a walk and ended up on the wrong property. Police reportedly confronted him and, when he failed to comply with orders, shocked him with a Taser and struck him, leading to his arrest and nearly a year in jail. “He didn’t understand anything. He was illiterate,” his wife said at a press conference this weekend, stressing that he neither read nor wrote and only knew “how to use his hands to work.”

Why this matters: Shah Alam’s death exposes how institutional failures worsen the precariousness refugees experience even after escaping persecution. The Rohingya, a Muslim minority group, have endured generations of persecution in Myanmar, with over 700,000 members displaced since 2017. The tragedy coincides with the Trump administration having ended temporary protected status for roughly 4,000 Myanmar nationals despite ongoing State Department reports documenting torture and armed conflict.

Reactions: Officials have criticized Border Patrol over the tragic situation. “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,” said Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan, who called the federal agency “unprofessional” and “inhuman.”

CAPAC Chair Grace Meng, among others, also called for accountability. “Leaving a nearly blind man who didn’t speak English stranded far from home without telling his family was a shocking breach of responsibility and basic humanity by federal enforcement. There must be a full investigation and real accountability from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection,” she said.

A GoFundMe page has been organized to help Shah Alam’s family.