US Courts Block Deportation of Indian-Origin Man Wrongfully Jailed for 43 Years

Two federal courts have blocked the deportation of 64-year-old Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam, an Indian-origin legal permanent resident who spent 43 years in a Pennsylvania prison for a murder he did not commit. On Thursday, an immigration judge issued a stay pending review by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), while the U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania granted a parallel injunction the same day. Vedam, detained at an ICE short-term holding center in Alexandria equipped with a deportation airstrip, was transferred there from central Pennsylvania last week after his murder conviction was vacated on August 29. The rulings prevent his removal to India—a country he left at nine months old and where he has no living relatives, speaks no language, and holds no memories.

Vedam’s ordeal began in 1982 when, at age 21, he was arrested for the 1980 stabbing death of friend Thomas Kinser in State College. Despite no witnesses, motive, or weapon, prosecutors secured two convictions based on circumstantial evidence. His pending U.S. citizenship application was derailed. This year, new FBI ballistics evidence—undisclosed for decades—proved the fatal bullet did not match the alleged crime scene, making Vedam Pennsylvania’s longest-serving exoneree. He walked out of SCI Phoenix prison on October 3 expecting freedom; instead, ICE agents immediately detained him under a 1980s deportation order tied to a no-contest LSD delivery plea from age 20.

ICE insists the vacated murder conviction does not erase the drug plea, labelling Vedam a “career criminal” and prioritising removal. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated, “Having a single conviction vacated will not stop ICE’s enforcement of federal immigration law.” Vedam’s attorneys counter that the non-violent youthful offence is dwarfed by four decades of exemplary prison conduct: earning two associate degrees, tutoring inmates, and maintaining a spotless disciplinary record. They argue deportation would compound a historic injustice against a man who has known only American soil since infancy.

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Family members expressed cautious relief. Sister Saraswathi Vedam said, “We’re relieved that two different judges have agreed that Subu’s deportation is unwarranted while his effort to reopen his immigration case is still pending.” She added hope that the BIA would recognise removal as “another untenable injustice” for someone who “endured 43 years in maximum security for a crime he didn’t commit.” Niece Zoë Miller-Vedam highlighted practical barriers: “He’s unfamiliar with modern technology; he wouldn’t know how to find housing or a job” in India.

The case exposes systemic rigidity in U.S. immigration enforcement, where decades-old minor convictions trigger automatic deportation even for exonerated long-term residents. Advocacy groups, including the Innocence Project, decry the lack of discretionary relief for those who have paid society’s debt many times over. Social media outrage has amplified Vedam’s story, with users calling the prospect of exile “cruel and absurd” for a man who “forfeited his entire adult life to a lie.”

As the BIA review looms—potentially lasting months—Vedam remains in limbo, his future hinging on whether immigration authorities will weigh rehabilitation and rootedness over technical violations. A favourable ruling could reopen citizenship pathways or grant cancellation of removal, allowing reunion with family in the U.S. and Canada. For now, the dual stays transform what threatened to be swift banishment into a protracted battle for the only home Subu Vedam has ever known.

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