The death of a nearly blind refugee in Buffalo, New York, days after Border Patrol agents dropped him off at a coffee shop alone, has prompted an investigation into the circumstances of his final days and drawn sharp criticism from the mayor, who called the incident “deeply disturbing.”
Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, who spoke little English, had been missing since February 19, when the agents left him at the shop shortly after he was released from the Erie County jail, officials said. His body was found five days later, around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, about four miles from the coffee shop, the Buffalo Police Department said.
The Erie County Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and determined Shah Alam’s cause of death was health‑related. Exposure and homicide have been ruled out, Buffalo city spokesperson Nick Beiling said.
It is not clear what exactly the nature of the health condition was, Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan said at a news conference Thursday. CNN has asked the medical examiner for its full report, which the mayor said he has not seen yet.
“The Border Patrol officers had no protocol of what to do with a disabled man who doesn’t speak English, who is confused and lost. And you know what they did? They dropped him at a closed coffee shop. That’s why we do not cooperate with ICE, Homeland Security and Border Patrol,” Ryan said.
Buffalo Police said its “homicide detectives are investigating the circumstances and timeframe of events leading up to his death, following his release from custody.”
Ryan said he would be releasing a timeline of the police department’s actions going back to Shah Alam’s initial arrest last year.
Shah Alam, a refugee from Myanmar, had spent much of the previous year in custody awaiting trial on criminal charges that were ultimately resolved with a misdemeanor plea deal, Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane told CNN in a statement Thursday.
A police report obtained by CNN affiliate WGRZ showed Shah Alam was being held on two counts of assault with intent to cause injury to an officer, a count of possession of a weapon and trespassing, among other charges, before a plea deal was reached.
He was arrested in February 2025, following what one of his children described to Reuters as a misunderstanding with police. Shah Alam had been out for a walk and was using a curtain rod as a walking stick when he got lost and wandered onto private property, his son Mohamad Faisal said. When he did not understand officers’ commands to drop the rod, Shah Alam was arrested.
Shah Alam was released from jail last week after his bond was posted on February 19, Keane said. It’s unclear who posted bond for him or what changed to lead to his release.
CNN has reached out to an attorney for Shah Alam.
As Shah Alam’s discharge from jail was being processed, deputies notified US Border Patrol, which had earlier placed him under an immigration detainer, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
“U.S. Border Patrol arrived at the Holding Center prior to the finalization of Mr. Shah Alam’s release from Erie County Sheriff’s Office custody,” the statement said.
A spokesperson for CBP said the agents later determined Shah Alam had entered the United States as a refugee on December 24, 2024, and “was not amenable to removal.”
“Border Patrol agents offered him a courtesy ride, which he chose to accept to a coffee shop, determined to be a warm, safe location near his last known address, rather than be released directly from the Border Patrol station,” the statement said. “He showed no signs of distress, mobility issues or disabilities requiring special assistance.”
Upon learning that Shah Alam was ineligible for removal, Border Patrol agents, using a translator program, attempted to communicate with him, according to a federal law enforcement official who said that Shah Alam asked to be taken to the location where he was eventually left. He was offered an opportunity to make a phone call but declined, the official said.
Ryan, the mayor, criticized the series of events by Border Patrol, saying there were ways they could have contacted someone to help Shah Alam. After it was clear he could not be removed from the country, agents did not take him back to the holding center, he said. There, they could have obtained phone numbers for his son or lawyer, who were both active visitors, according to Ryan.
That is bad policing, but that is also bad human beings. That is an inhumane thing to do,” he said.
