The family of Nural Amin Shah Alam is calling for justice after the 56-year-old Rohingya man who entered the U.S. as a refugee was found dead several days after being released from Border Patrol custody.
Alam was buried today in Masjid Zakariya Cemetery in Buffalo, surrounded with friends, family and members of Buffalo's Muslim and refugee community.
Border Patrol agents took Alam into custody on February 19, 2026 once he was bailed out the Erie County Holding Center. He was being held there on charges following a trespass and weapon incident the previous year, that family said stemmed from him being confused and walking in the backyard of the wrong house. Alam was visually impaired, and apparently used a curtain rod as walking cane.
Bodycam footage obtained by WGRZ TV shows the 2025 encounter with responding officers, which turned physical. Weeks ago he accepted a plea deal for two misdemeanors.
Once agents determined Alam was "not amendable for removal," they say he was offered a courtesy ride to a Tim Hortons coffee shop on Niagara Street that was near his last known address.
But he was found five days later dead on Perry Street, more than five miles away from the Tim Hortons location, and with minimal winter clothing.
"He didn't even have proper shoes on," said family friend Khaleda Shah following Alam's burial services. "I'm here all bundled up and still shivering here, he only had the booties that the jail provided and left him out in the cold like that. That's so inhumane."
Alam’s family and friends spent days looking for him after he went missing — confused if he was in Buffalo or at the ICE Detention Center in Batavia nearly an hour drive away.
"Family went to Batavia, they did not give a location of where exactly to get [Alam] from," recounted Shah. "They were told that they're going to drop him at a random gas station. So the family went to Batavia, drove around all the gas stations around there, they could not find him."
Shah adds that the public support for the family is appreciated, but it’s too little, too late. She said refugees like Alam fled their countries to the U.S. because they felt unsafe.
"They came here seeking home, and home killed them. United States was home for them, and home killed them. We did not, we did not do our part," she said.
Community activist Mohammed Uddin said he wants to see everybody in Buffalo come together in support of justice for Alam, not just the immigrant community.
"We need to stand up everybody together in Buffalo. I know we've been neglected for a long time," Uddin said. "It's time city officials, Border Patrol, Buffalo PD, to stand up with the community. Today is suffering. I believe if we stay together, if something can happen, we need a justice [for] whatever is happening. We want a right investigation into that."
The Buffalo Police Department originally said on Wednesday that Alam died of a "health-related condition," not exposure or homicide, and cited the Erie County Medical Examiner's Office. But Thursday evening, the Erie County Health Department, said that was an "error," and the medical examiner is still establishing a cause and manner of death.
Rep. Tim Kennedy (D-NY) is calling on New York State Attorney General Letitia James to launch a full investigation into Alam's death, and wants to hear explanations from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
