Exonerated after 43 years, Pennsylvania man now faces deportation to India under decades-old order

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam, a 64-year-old Pennsylvania man who spent more than four decades in prison for a murder he always maintained he did not commit, is now in the U.S.

immigration detention and facing deportation to India, days after prosecutors dismissed the case against him.

Vedam, who arrived in the United States as a nine-month-old infant and grew up in the State College area, was convicted in 1983 (and again after a 1988 retrial) for the 1980 killing of his friend and former roommate Thomas Kinser. A judge vacated his conviction in late August amid concerns about suppressed evidence and other weaknesses, and on October 2, the Centre County district attorney declined to retry him and moved to dismiss the charge.

When Vedam was released from state custody on October 3, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement immediately took him into custody based on a long-standing deportation order dating back to the 1980s, an order that federal authorities say is tied to his past criminal history and that advocates argue should not survive his exoneration.

Vedam, a long-time lawful permanent resident who has no meaningful ties in India and speaks with a Philadelphia accent, is being held at the Moshannon Valley immigration detention centre while his legal team challenges removal and seeks his release so he can rebuild a life lost to 43 years behind bars.

The case has ignited debate over how immigration law treats people exonerated after long sentences, with supporters saying deportation would amount to a second injustice and ICE officials countering that they are enforcing an existing order under federal law.

Sources: The Guardian; Times of India, NDTV, BBC News