Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC Horrified by Death of Visually Impaired Refugee After CBP Abandonment
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – On February 25, Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a Rohingya refugee from Myanmar, was found dead in Buffalo, N.Y after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents abandoned him at a coffee shop with no shoes as snow and freezing rain blanketed Buffalo. Shah Alam spoke no English and was visually impaired. CBP officers did not notify Shah Alam’s family of his release, and his body was found five days after being abandoned.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC (Advancing Justice – AAJC) issues the following statement in response:
“Nurul Amin Shah Alam’s death is yet another case in a string of disturbing instances of neglect and violence at the hands of ICE and CBP, especially for the most vulnerable in our communities. He was left to fend for himself. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident: our immigration system has been designed to mistreat people and ignore their basic humanity.
“Many questions remain about the circumstances of Shah Alam’s abandonment and death, but what we know for certain is that he should not have been in the custody of CBP agents. These agents were unequipped to interact with a man who spoke little English and had disabilities, and their recklessness in the situation ended in tragedy. Shah Alam was one of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled Myanmar as the government continues to commit genocide against their people. Escaping violence only to then be treated cruelly and inhumanely in the place that was supposed to provide safety is an unimaginable horror.
“ICE and CBP violence and neglect must end, and we continue to call on Congress to cut the funding that is enabling the agencies’ harmful and discriminatory detention practices within our communities. We grieve with Nurul Amin Shah Alam’s family, and we demand accountability and justice for his death, and the many others nationwide who have been victims of the government’s cruel anti-immigration agenda.”
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