A Story of Injustice: From Exoneration to Deportation Battle

A Story of Injustice: From Exoneration to Deportation Battle

Meet Subramanyam 'Subu' Vedam, who was brought to the US as an infant and spent 43 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit.

A Life Stolen by Wrongful Conviction 💔
Arrested in 1982: Subu, a legal permanent resident, was arrested and later convicted for the 1980 killing of his friend, Thomas Kinser, a crime for which he maintained his innocence for over four decades.

Conviction Overturned:
In a monumental victory this year, a Pennsylvania judge overturned his murder conviction after his lawyers uncovered decades of suppressed ballistics evidence proving his innocence. After 43 years, Subu was finally set free from state prison on October 3rd.

Freedom Interrupted: The Deportation Fight 🇺🇸➡️🇮🇳
Instead of being reunited with his sister and niece, Subu was immediately taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.

The Grounds for Deportation: ICE is seeking to deport him based on a decades-old drug conviction (a no-contest plea to LSD charges) that occurred when he was just 20, separate from the overturned murder case.

Legal Battle: Subu's lawyers and family are fighting back, arguing that his 43 years of wrongful imprisonment should overwhelmingly outweigh the minor, decades-old drug offense. They point out that he has no ties to India, the country he left at 9 months old, and his life, education, and family are all in the US.

Courts Intervene: In a glimmer of hope, two separate US courts have temporarily ordered ICE to halt his deportation while the Bureau of Immigration Appeals reviews his case.

This case raises serious questions about the limits of justice and the humanity of the immigration system. An exonerated man, after 43 years of profound injustice, should be allowed to finally go home.

(By our staff reporter) New York
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