Nearly blind refugee left at doughnut shop by Border Patrol agents found dead amid freezing weather
A visually impaired refugee who went missing a week after Border Patrol agents left him at a doughnut shop was found dead in Buffalo, New York, as temperatures plummeted below zero.
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Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, vanished on February 19 after officers dropped him off at a Tim Horton’s on Niagara Street.
The Rohingya refugee from Myanmar, who is blind in one eye, was found dead on Tuesday night.
His cause of death has been deemed health-related. Officials are investigating the events leading up to his death after he was released from police custody last week.
The father-of-two arrived in Buffalo 15 months ago in December 2024, but had spent the past year behind bars in a local jail.
He was arrested last year after becoming disoriented during a walk and ending up on a woman’s porch and using a curtain rod as a makeshift walking cane, police say.
Lawyers with the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo say Shah Alam can only see with blurry vision for several feet in the other.
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They say officers tasered and beat Shah Alam, who could not speak English, when he failed to follow police commands to drop his curtain rod.He was later arrested on charges of assault, trespassing and possession of a weapon.
Shah Alam was released on bail before being transferred to border patrol custody.
Border patrol agents dropped him off at a Tim Hortons coffee shop around five miles from his home.Neither his family or lawyers were informed of his release.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office is currently “reviewing our legal options.”
The Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo said in a statement: “We are saddened to learn that our client, Nurul Amin Shah Alam, was found deceased last night in the City of Buffalo.”
Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan said in a statement Shah Alam's death was a result of "inhumane" federal immigration policies.
He said: "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 US Customs and Border Protection was unprofessional and inhumane."
Shah Alam’s death came as record-breaking snow has brought parts of the US east coast to a standstill this week.
Nearly 20 people have been reported dead in New York City this month resulting from the dangerous and enduring cold weather.
The region has been gripped by one of the most extensive stretches of subzero cold since 1961.
Temperatures in Buffalo, near the border with Canada, have been below freezing for weeks.