The Department of Homeland Security insisted that a blind refugee from Burma who was found dead after being abandoned by agents had no disabilities.
According to Investigate Post, agents dropped off Nurul Amin Shah Alam at a doughnut shop last week, 5 miles away from his home. Buffalo police later found the man dead in the snow.
City Hall spokesperson Ian Ott said homicide detectives were investigating the death.
On Thursday, two days after the body was found, DHS released a statement claiming the "Buffalo Police Department alerted Border Patrol about a non-citizen in their custody."
"Our agents confirmed that Mr. Shah Alam entered the United States as a refugee on December 24, 2024, and was not amenable to removal," the statement said. "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."
"He showed no signs of distress, mobility issues, or disabilities requiring special assistance," the agency added.
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof followed up with a series of questions that had not been answered by the time of publication.
"1. How did your agents determine that Mr. Shah Alam wanted to be dropped off at the coffee shop, since he did not speak English? 2. Since Mr. Shah Alam presumably had no phone or money, how did the agents expect him to get home through 5 miles of snow? 3. What did they expect him to do when the coffee shop closed? 4. How did they determine that a blind man needing a cane had no "mobility issues or disabilities"? 5. In the circumstances, why not notify the police or his family rather than dump him 5 miles from home? 6. Have you verified your information any better than when you declared that Alex Pretti and Renee Good were domestic terrorists?" Kristof wrote on X.
