US court halts deportation of Indian origin man after 40rs wrongful conviction

By Anjali Sharma

WASHINGTON – US Supreme courts on Tuesday have temporarily halted the deportation of 64-year-old Indian-origin man, Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam, suffered ‘grave injustice’ as he spent 40 years in prison before his murder conviction was overturned.

Media reported that the situation worsened when he faced deportation.

He is being held at a detention centre in Alexandria, Louisiana, Vedam legally moved to the US from India as an infant.

An immigration judge put his deportation in abeyance until the Board of Immigration Appeals decides whether to review his case, a process that could take several months.

The 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 and he was released from state prison on October 3, only to be immediately taken into immigration custody.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement 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, media cited in court papers.

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

ICE maintains that deportation laws must still apply.

Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, in a statement said “Having a single conviction vacated will not stop ICE’s enforcement of federal immigration law.”

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