PHILADELPHIA — Two different courts have issued orders preventing immigration officials from deporting Subramanyam Vedam, a Pennsylvania man with a wrongful imprisonment history. Vedam spent more than four decades in prison for murder before his conviction was overturned earlier this month.
Currently 64, Vedam is being held at a short-term immigration center in Alexandria, Louisiana, designed for deportations. His transfer from Pennsylvania last week raised concerns among family and advocates.
An immigration judge stayed his deportation order on Thursday, pending a review by the Bureau of Immigration Appeals. Meanwhile, a stay issued in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania might be put on hold due to the immigration court's recent ruling.
Vedam, originally from India, was legally brought to America as a child. He was wrongly convicted for the murder of his friend in 1980. After his release from prison on October 3, immigration authorities took him into custody immediately.
The Department of Homeland Security is pursuing Vedam’s deportation based on a plea related to an LSD distribution charge from his youth. However, his lawyers argue that the decades of wrongful incarceration should negate this earlier conviction.
Despite the recent court interventions, officials from the Department of Homeland Security have reiterated that the reversal of Vedam's murder conviction does not nullify his drug charge.
Having a single conviction vacated will not stop ICE's enforcement of federal immigration law, stated Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs.
Vedam's family expressed relief over the court's decision, with his sister emphasizing their hope for justice. Subu has lived in the U.S. since he was nine months old; deporting him now would be another grave injustice, she asserted.
