The story making the rounds on liberal social media and in the mainstream media is that ICE killed a blind refugee. They left him five miles from his home in Buffalo, he died, and ICE is to blame for being Nazis who leave blind people to freeze to death without notifying their families. By extrapolation, the argument goes, the United States should have open borders and cease all ICE deportations of illegal aliens.
One of the details repeated over and over is that he used a curtain rod as a walking stick, but ICE arrested him because they said it was a weapon. This is particularly odd since ICE conducts immigration enforcement and would have no reason to stop and arrest someone simply for walking with a stick. In upstate New York, it is not uncommon to see people walking with a stick.
Here is what actually happened. The facts vary dramatically from the spin, and ICE did nothing wrong. In fact, ICE was not even involved in the arrest. The agency involved was Customs and Border Protection, which handles enforcement near the border. Because Buffalo is a border city, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office contacted Border Patrol.
A 56-year-old nearly blind Rohingya refugee, Nurul Amin Shah Alam, came to the U.S. on December 24, 2024, but spent the past year in the Erie County Holding Center following his February 15, 2025, arrest on charges of assault, trespassing, and criminal possession of a weapon. He had been in the United States for exactly 53 days when he was arrested.
The trespassing charge stemmed from an incident in Buffalo’s Riverside neighborhood. A female homeowner was letting her dog out when she discovered a stranger, Shah Alam, standing on her porch. He was holding a long metal curtain rod. Feeling threatened by both his presence and the object in his hand, she called the police. Apparently, he was able to see well enough to trespass on someone else’s property and to threaten the homeowner with his walking stick.
The assault and weapon charges involved the responding Buffalo Police officers. According to the police report and statements from the Erie County District Attorney, when officers arrived and ordered Shah Alam to drop the rod, he did not comply. His family later claimed this was due to his poor eyesight and limited English. However, the family’s statement is irrelevant because they were not present during the incident.
Police stated that during the encounter, Shah Alam became “combative.” According to the report, he allegedly bit one of the officers during the struggle. There are roughly 135 countries where English is not an official language, yet their citizens are not walking around biting one another. It is reasonable to conclude that the alleged biting had nothing to do with his lack of English fluency.
Two officers sustained minor injuries. The criminal possession of a weapon charge was based on the curtain rod, which police classified as a dangerous instrument during the altercation. According to his attorney, officers tasered and beat him after he failed to drop the rod. This is understandable given that he not only refused to comply but also became combative.
Following his arrest, Buffalo police located his refugee identification documents and notified federal authorities. ICE issued a detainer, meaning that once his local criminal case was resolved, he would be transferred to federal custody.
In February 2026, after nearly a year in jail, the Erie County District Attorney offered a reduced plea agreement. Shah Alam pleaded guilty to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree and Criminal Trespass in the Third Degree, both misdemeanors. The original felony assault charges were reduced in what prosecutors described as an interest-of-justice resolution, taking into account his lack of criminal history and medical condition.
On February 19, 2026, after his family posted bond and he entered the plea, he was released from county custody and transferred to U.S. Border Patrol pursuant to the federal detainer. Border Patrol took custody of him.
After approximately four hours, Border Patrol determined he was a lawful refugee and not subject to removal. Many media accounts stress that CBP did not notify his family or attorney when he was released. There is no legal requirement for them to do so, and there is no indication that he was denied the opportunity to call home.
Agents provided what was described as a courtesy ride and dropped him at a Tim Hortons on Niagara Street, roughly five miles from his home. They were not required to provide transportation at all. It is unclear whether he requested that location or whether agents chose it. Under either circumstance, he could have called home from Tim Hortons.
Some claim he died because he could not get home from Tim Hortons. However, the original arrest location on February 15, 2025, was Niagara Street near the intersection with Grace Street in the Riverside neighborhood of Buffalo. His home was in the Broadway–Fillmore neighborhood on Buffalo’s East Side.
By road, the distance between Niagara Street near Grace Street and the Broadway–Fillmore area is approximately 6 to 7 miles, depending on the route. In a straight line, it is closer to about 4.5 to 5 miles, but driving requires crossing much of the city via major east–west corridors. He was able to travel roughly that distance at the time of his original arrest. So, it is not unreasonable to believe he could have walked five miles on the day of his release.
The Erie County Medical Examiner ruled that his death was health-related in nature, ruling out homicide or death by exposure, including hypothermia.
No part of this story implicates ICE in his death. Nor does it appear that CBP or the Buffalo Police Department broke the law or violated Shah Alam’s rights.
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