Buffalo, New York, police are investigating the death of a “nearly blind” refugee from Myanmar, formerly Burma, who was found dead five days after immigration agents left him at a Tim Horton’s shop. Nurul Amin Shah Alam was 56 years old.
The Erie County Medical Examiner has determined that Shah Alam’s death was health-related, per CNN.
Shah Alam was a Rohingya refugee who arrived in Buffalo in 2024, according to Investigative Post. The UN began hearings on the Rohingya genocide case against Myanmar in January of this year. The country has been accused of violating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by Gambia. The US has declared the country’s military crackdown on the Rohingya people a genocide.
The year after he came to Buffalo, Shah Alam was arrested by police and had an immigration detainer placed on him. On Feb. 15, 2025, he went for a walk using a curtain rod as a walking stick and stepped into a neighboring private property. Police beat and detained him despite his inability to communicate in English–he didn’t heed their instructions to drop his rod–and his nearly blind status. He spent a year at the Erie County Holding Center on weapons, assault, and trespassing charges. His family opted not to post bail out of fear of an ICE detention.
On Feb. 19 of this year, after taking a plea deal in the case earlier in the month, bail was posted for Shah Alam, and because of the immigration detainer placed on him, he was released into Border Patrol custody. Border Patrol agents eventually realized that the immigration detainer Shah Alam was placed under was inaccurate due to his refugee status.
According to Investigative Post, a Border Patrol spokesperson said that Shah Alam was then offered a courtesy ride by immigration agents to the Tim Horton’s after it was determined that he should not be in their custody, and that the agents resolved that the location was safe, warm, and close to his last recorded address. Days later, on Tuesday, Feb. 24, he was found dead about four miles away from the coffee shop at 8:30 p.m. local time.
“He showed no signs of distress, mobility issues, or disabilities requiring special assistance,” a spokesperson for the agency said.
The family of Shah Alam has said they were not informed of his release from jail.
Mayor Sean Ryan is calling Shah Alam’s death “preventable,” as well as “disturbing” and “a dereliction of duty” in his statement reacting to the news.
“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. That decision from U.S. Customs and Border Protection was unprofessional and inhumane. U.S. Customs and Border Protection must answer for how and why this happened.”
