US courts halt deportation of 64-year-old Indian-origin man after 40-year-long wrongful conviction overturned

A 64-year-old Indian-origin man, Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam, suffered ‘grave injustice’ as he spent about four decades in prison before his murder conviction was overturned. The situation worsened when he faced deportation; however, two US courts have temporarily stopped the deportation.

Currently being held at a detention centre in Alexandria, Louisiana, Vedam legally moved to the United States from India as an infant.

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An immigration judge on Thursday put his deportation in abeyance until the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decides whether to review his case, a process that could take several months. That same day, his lawyers also secured a stay order from a US District Court in Pennsylvania, though that case will remain on hold pending the immigration court’s decision.

Vedam grew up in State College, Pennsylvania, where his father was a professor at Penn State University.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1980 for the death of a friend, but maintained his innocence throughout.

His conviction was overturned earlier this year, and he was released from state prison on October 3, only to be immediately taken into immigration custody.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has sought Vedam’s deportation based on a no-contest plea he entered about 40 years ago to LSD delivery charges when he was around 20 years old.

Vedam’s lawyers argue that his wrongful incarceration, during which he earned college degrees and tutored fellow inmates, should outweigh the decades-old drug case.

ICE, however, maintains that deportation laws must still apply. “Having a single conviction vacated will not stop ICE’s enforcement of federal immigration law,” said Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, in a statement to the Associated Press.

Vedam’s sister, Saraswathi Vedam, welcomed the court decisions, calling them a relief.