Local organizations are joining hands with Assemblymember Jon Rivera to call for an Erie County Legislature hearing into Nurul Amin Shah Alam’s death.
Nurul Amin Shah Alam was found dead in Buffalo days after he was released from federal custody outside a closed coffee shop. But before he was in federal custody, he was held in Erie County custody for a 2025 case.
Rivera says the lack of transparency from the Erie County Sheriff’s Office surrounding Alam’s death in late February has been unacceptable.
“If there is nothing wrong, then the sheriff should have no problem coming in and talking about it," he said. "If this is the one-off isolated situation and it's never going to happen again, and it never happened before? Well, then it should be something easily to discuss, but if there's an apprehension to talk about it, then it must mean that there's something wrong.”
The Sheriff's Office treats federal detainer requests the same way as New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision would, according to a department press release. They deny extending his time of local incarceration or release.
It has been noted that Alam had official refugee status, and was not an illegal immigrant.
Alam's death is all the more concerning because it's part of a list of alleged misconduct, Justice for Migrant Families Executive Director Jennifer Connor said.
"This search for missing family members with increasing frequency, lasts for days at a time as families panic and imagine the worst," she said. "We wait outside the holding center on release days with people whose loved ones never come out. It has grown too common, the ever worsening treatment of immigrants with disabilities in detention."
There also are renewed efforts to pass the New York 4 All Act, which supporters say could prevent future instances like Alam’s death and limit how much law enforcement statewide can collaborate with ICE.
New York must do more to ensure the safety of its immigrant, refugee and asylum-seeking populations, Rohingya Empowerment Community Executive Director Imran Fazal said.
“No one should struggle in a country like the United States, a country with so many resources," he said. "What we need is the ability to organize those resources and bring them directly. To the families who need the most where they live.”
New York 4 All is essential to avoid more deaths like Alam’s, said Meghan Maloney de Zaldivar, vice president of advocacy with New York Immigration Coalition.
“It's very clear that Nurul Amin Shah Alam should be home with his family. And we echo all of the calls for accountability and call on Albany to immediately pass New York 4 All," she said. "We cannot wait for another death at the hands of Erie County Sheriff and border patrol or any other law enforcement in this state to pass this legislation.”
New York 4 All is in discussion at the State Senate and Assembly levels but has not progressed past either committee.
