Kamal Ghorui
After spending more than four decades in prison and consistently avoiding deportation for a murder conviction that was later overturned, Indian-origin Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam has won a crucial legal battle to remain in the United States.A US immigration judge has ruled that 64-year-old Vedam can stay in the country, rejecting efforts by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deport him. The decision follows a hearing in which the court found that Vedam had demonstrated rehabilitation and did not pose a threat to the public.Judge Adam Panopoulos said Vedam “has grown as a person” and “began to dedicate himself to enriching other people’s lives and ultimately his own through academic study and enrichment”. The judge added that allowing him to remain “would be in the best interest of the United States”.Vedam had been taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last year, just as he was about to be released from prison after his murder conviction was vacated. He had spent over 40 years behind bars for the 1980 killing of Thomas Kinser in Pennsylvania, a crime he has consistently denied.During a hearing, Vedam told the court, “I was young and stupid and did a lot of dumb things back then.” He said that he was innocent of the murder charge and stated, “I never stopped saying I was innocent of this charge.”Even though the murder charge was cleared, Vedam still faced deportation because of separate drug-related convictions from his younger years. As a teenager, he had pleaded no contest to selling LSD, which authorities said made him eligible to be removed from the country.At the hearing, a lawyer for the DHS argued that Vedam should still be deported, pointing to past offences including drug distribution, DUI and theft. But the court sided with Vedam. His conduct over decades in prison, his efforts in education and mentoring, were all taken into account. Vedam earned multiple degrees, helped improve literacy among inmates and built strong ties with his family.The judge said the evidence showed “genuine rehabilitation, consistent display of good moral character over the last 40 years and strong family ties and communal support”.Vedam was born in Mumbai and moved to the US as an infant. He grew up in Pennsylvania, where his father worked as a physics professor. He was close to becoming a US citizen at the time of his arrest in 1982.Following the ruling, Vedam’s lawyer said she would seek his release on bond. If freed, he plans to live with relatives in California and has been offered a place in a doctoral programme in applied anthropology.The DHS has 30 days to appeal the decision. Until then, Vedam remains in custody.
