1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge your intervention in the deportation case of Subramanyam Vedam, a 64-year-old Pennsylvania resident who spent 43 years wrongfully imprisoned for a murder he did not commit. After his conviction was overturned in August based on undisclosed ballistics evidence, he was immediately transferred from state prison to immigration custody on October 3 and now faces deportation to India, a country he left when he was 9 months old. The circumstances of this case demand exceptional consideration. Vedam came to the United States legally as an infant when his parents returned to State College, Pennsylvania, where his late father served as a renowned professor at Penn State University. His attorney, Ava Benach, has demonstrated that he would have likely been spared deportation and become a citizen if not for the wrongful murder conviction, given immigration laws at the time. The only remaining conviction is a small-scale LSD delivery charge from over 40 years ago, for which he would have been released from prison by 1992. Immigration Judge Tamar Wilson denied bail this month, citing mandatory detention for his felony drug conviction and claiming he remains a safety risk despite being a model prisoner for more than four decades. This reasoning defies logic and basic principles of justice. A man who maintained exemplary conduct throughout 43 years of wrongful imprisonment has demonstrated extraordinary character and rehabilitation. The Board of Immigration Appeals has agreed to hear his appeal based on exceptional circumstances. Supporters at his bail hearing included a Centre County prosecutor and the mayor of State College, reflecting broad community recognition of this injustice. Vedam's sister, Saraswathi Vedam, continues fighting for his freedom alongside advocates who recognize the profound unfairness of deporting someone who lost over four decades to a wrongful conviction. I urge you to advocate for the reversal of the 1999 deportation order and support Vedam's path to citizenship. This case represents a failure of our criminal justice system that should not be compounded by our immigration system.