New York AG Letitia James says Border Patrol account of migrant death in Buffalo ‘unreliable’

New York Attorney General Letitia James questioned the Border Patrol’s version of events that led up to the death of a migrant in the state late last month, calling it “unreliable” and saying there are too many unanswered questions.

Nurul Amin Shah Alam was found dead on a Buffalo street in sub-freezing temperatures, five days after the Border Patrol dropped him off at a coffee shop at night.

Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the Border Patrol, said it had picked him up from a local jail but determined he wasn’t deportable. Agents then gave Shah Alam a “courtesy ride” to the coffee shop based on the migrant’s request.

But Ms. James said that didn’t jibe with what she knew of Shah Alam, who didn’t speak English but rather a rare Rohingya dialect that would have made communication with agents difficult.

“There is no reason to credit that account on the basis of known facts,” Ms. James, a Democrat, said in a letter Friday to Rep. Timothy Kennedy, the Democratic congressman who represents the Buffalo area where Shah Alam died.

Shah Alam had been in jail on local charges. The district attorney cut him a deal, allowing him to plead to two misdemeanors instead of a felony, which likely would have triggered deportation proceedings.

His sentencing was still pending, but he was released from jail on Feb. 19.

Mr. Kennedy said Shah Alam was mostly blind and couldn’t read or write, nor use a phone.

He came to the U.S. in December 2024 as a refugee from Burma, where the Rohingya minority is persecuted.

Two months later, in February 2025, Buffalo police arrested and charged him with felony assault. Police said he bit an officer who was trying to handcuff him after he was reported to be trespassing in a woman’s yard.

He was charged with female assault, burglary and criminal mischief. Under the deal, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanors of criminal trespass and criminal possession of a weapon.

The Department of Homeland Security had previously placed a deportation “detainer” request, asking to be alerted when Shah Alam was to be released so agents could be on hand to collect him.

That detainer was still active on Feb. 19.

Border Patrol agents showed up at 4:30 p.m. and dropped him off at the coffee shop at 8:30, Ms. James said.

She said he had been in the Erie County Jail since his arrest on Feb. 15, 2025 — a little more than a year. She wondered why he was still behind bars, given that the longest misdemeanor sentence is a year and he had already served more than that time.

“As part of our Office of Special Investigation preliminary assessment, we are seeking to determine the circumstances of his release on February 19,” the attorney general wrote.

She said the incident should force the state to review “transfer protocols” for local authorities that turn over deportation targets to the Department of Homeland Security.

Shah Alam’s death drew fierce criticism from immigrant rights advocates who said agents’ decision to leave him at the coffee shop, which appeared to be closed, was callous.

Activists this week also decried the death of Emmanuel Damas in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Arizona Daily Star in Tucson reported that Mr. Damas died after struggling to get care from a worsening toothache.