American Council of the Blind calls for open transparent investigation of the death of Nurun Amin Shah Alam

 Statement verbatim

Statement from the American Council of the Blind on the Death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam

Posted on March 2, 2026

Statement from the American Council of the Blind on the Death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam
March 2, 2026

The American Council of the Blind (ACB) is deeply saddened by the death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a Rohingya refugee who was blind and died in Buffalo, New York, shortly after his release from federal custody.

People who are blind or have low vision, like all people with disabilities, deserve to be treated with dignity and provided reasonable accommodations in their interactions with government agencies. Serious questions remain about the circumstances surrounding Mr. Shah Alam’s death, including whether his disability and communication needs were appropriately considered at each stage.

ACB urges a full and transparent investigation into what occurred, with particular attention to how disability-related needs were addressed. That review should identify clear steps to help prevent similar tragedies in the future and ensure that policies and practices fully protect the rights and safety of people with disabilities, including those who are blind or have low vision.

For information about reasonable accommodations and the rights of people with disabilities in interactions with immigration enforcement, refer to: https://www.ice.gov/leadership/ocrc/disability-access#main-content

Post: Edit

May Mr. Nurun Amin Shah Alam rest in peace.

 First #RamadanMubarak to all who are observing the fast

Second, Heartfelt condolences to the family of Nurul Amin Shah Alam and the entire Rohingya community living through the nightmare of his death during ramadan

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Clear reporting about issues with cause of death determination

Comment RantWoman posted

1. Mobility aids are NOT Weapons. WTF with the weapons charges for what multiple sources have said are CURTAIN RODS? Thank you for the description of two poles. I could not make that out in the body cam video released by Buffalo PD. Curtain rods are, of course, not standard white canes many people use, but other people do use walking poles for all kinds of reasons. 2. LOTS of blind people, even blind professionals with excellent travel skills get lost sometimes. It seems like Mr. Shah Alam is charged for: --getting lost while brown --getting lost while Muslim --getting lost while blind --getting lost while not speaking English. --accidentally trespassing 3. The body cam video of the original arrest you mentioned featured a female officer SCREAMING at Mr. Shah Alam to drop the poles or she was going to taser him, like he has any clue what a taser is. Then there is a melee, reportedly by two officers who somehow could not de-escalate the situation.

In other words, Mr. Shah Alam was WAY overcharged for what should have MAYBE been a simple trespassing issue. What is the source for hearing that Mr. Shah Alam's family and attorney were waiting for him when he was released? Reporting I have seen says there were no efforts to contact family or attorney. This case is heartbreaking and infuriating on so many levels, and so much worse for the Muslim communities because it's Ramadan. And unfortunately, except for the extra issues because of blindness and medical fragility, this case is all too similar t DHS general Deport First and due process be damned policies.

Scott Jennings' DEPRAVED Take On Refugee Death STUNS CNN Panel

TYT reporting with more details of situation and perspective from Cenk Uygur and TYT voices. And Cenk makes the case about why would any jurisdiction tell ICE / CBP about immigrants in custody if they are going to be treated this badly.

RantWoman now can't locate her reply comment rant about assertion that Mr. Shah Alam was able to make known his wishes via some kind of translation device. Hopefully Gov. Hochul, AG James, and Congress will add questions about validation of any such system used to questions about this outrage.

Nearly blind refugee found dead in Buffalo after Border Patrol drop off miles from his home 

Blind Refugee "Abandoned By Border Patrol" in Buffalo Dies in the Cold; Family Demands Answers

Blistering comments from mayor of Buffalo abotu why Buffalo does not cooperate with administrative warrants

Discussion by immigration attorney of Rohingya refugee situation, many elements of immigration law including efforts by Mr. Shah Alam's attorney to negotiate a plea deal.

How the System Intentionally Killed Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a Rohingya Refugee

Reuters report after funeral

A nearly blind refugee from Myanmar, 56-year old Nurul Amin Shah Alam, missing since his release from a Buffalo jail into the custody of US Border Patrol has been found dead on a downtown street https://t.co/ayXj0QU7AY pic.twitter.com/srFTreb7Er

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 27, 2026

Near-blind refugee found dead in Buffalo after release by US Border Patrol | Reuters

RantWoman means to add links to accounts from Reuters of community and family comments as well as items from several other sources.

Buffalo NY "Border Patrol" officers leave nearly blind Rohingya REFUGEE to die in the snow.

 RantWoman's laundry is going to have to wait.

First, HEARTFELT condolences to the family of Mr. Nurun Alam and to everyone in the Rohingya refugee community in Buffalo NY.

RantWoman is shaking her tree of blind people contacts to see whether any blind people in Buffalo NY are familiar with the story below of Mr. Nurun Alam, a Rohingya REFUGEE. If RantWoman were a properly politic advocate, she might also collaborate with others to craft a carefully worded statement about why blind people--LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IN THE US--should care about immigrant neighbors, blind or low vision immigrants, and assaults on Constitutional and civil rights, not to mention all the ways ICE/ CBP are making life MORE unsafe for everyone in the US. RantWoman will be grateful if all these comments lead to such statements. 

In the meantime....

RantWoman's head is exploding about the heart-wrenching story of a nearly blind Rohingya REFUGEE left to die in Buffalo NY by Border Patrol agents. Aside from that outrageous level of cruelty, the whole story should make every jurisdiction in the country think twice or three or a dozen or seventeen times about handing ANYONE but the most dangerous criminals over on Border Patrol (ICE/ CBP) detainers. 

According to the TV news report linked below, Mr. Alam was originally arrested in 2025 after an encounter with 2 Buffalo Police Department officers. RantWoman has not found reports of the original altercation but one post on X referred to some kind of stick that may have been used as a walking stick. Mr. Alam was held in the Erie County jail until there was some kind of plea deal, someone recently posted bond and he was picked up by "Border Patrol" Border Patrol apparently figured out there was no reason to deport him. There was also no reason just to dump him out in the cold to die in the snow.

RantWoman does not endorse middle-aged blind people getting into hand-to-hand battles with police officers. That said, several elements of the story make RantWoman wonder whether, in a properly functioning Department of Justice, there would be grounds for a federal civil rights investigation.

Google turned up reference to a now-deleted missing persons report on Facebook that described mr. Alam as about 5'7" and slightly built. So two officers? COME ON. De-escalation ANYONE? Someone? Anyone?

Next, we have someone who speaks minimal English quite possibly has age-related hearing loss, and probably has no idea what police officers might be barking at him.

Next we have a REFUGEE who probably does not have great associations with anyone in uniform but who, if he has any vision at all, probably reacts very badly to police officers.

Next, the "walking stick." RantWoman would definitely like to know more about whether Mr. Alam used whatever he was carrying as some kind of a mobility aid, either for support or as a tool for navigating his environment.

RantWoman is not a lawyer and HOPES that someone with more authority will re-investigate the original case.

For now, focus on the outrageous behavior by CBP and a fragile LEGAL REFUGEE left to die alone in the snow.

Documentation / media selections below. 

Here are such media accounts and statements as RantWoman has been able easily to assemble, along with an observation that Grok, the Twitter /X AI validates accounts from several official sources.

TV Coverage of previous arrest

Border Patrol dump blind refugee 5 miles away from home—he was found dead on the street.

Officers dropped him off in front of a donut shop—didn't notify his lawyer or family he was even released.

When reported missing—local police said he was in ICE custody and stopped looking… pic.twitter.com/DKhS77qVqv

— LongTime🤓FirstTime👨‍💻 (@LongTimeHistory) February 26, 2026

Investigative report

Blind refugee abandoned by Border Patrol dies in Buffalo. : Investigative Post

Another Tweet

Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan provided the following statement to News 4:

"A vulnerable man — nearly blind and unable to speak English — was left alone on a cold winter night with no known attempt to leave him in a safe, secure location."

"That decision from U.S. Customs and Border… pic.twitter.com/ScSf4uj9Ik

— LongTime🤓FirstTime👨‍💻 (@LongTimeHistory) February 26, 2026

Minimal walking to #OpenThePaths

The short version of this rant: will RantWoman just ride her usual bus Metro 48 to the #OpenThePaths conference with a few blocks walk to the Zillow Center? OR will RantWoman ride her usual Metro 48 bus a couple stops further, cross a street and catch a Metro 372 bus that would go practically to the front door of the Zillow center and mean much less total walking?

Stay tuned. RantWoman may or may not get arround to either documenting her travels in #ACCESSMap or explaining her thinking to the kinds of people who design trip planners.  RantWoman has SO many other pathways to ranting before getting back to these details.

To heck with #SOTU2026 and multiple other news threads RantWoman would find it easy to have generalized ranting about. Let us stick to the annual #OpenThePaths conference at the TASKAR center at the University of WA.

First a rant about bleeping INTRUSIVE AI. RantWoman does NOT want AI to help her write email. RantWoman does not want AI to help her read her email or at least not as a default. And furthermore, ff RantWoman puts a search string into a search bar, the LAST thing RantWoman wants to see is some wordy AI verbiage. RantWoman wants a direct link to the even website. That did not occur. Hence the rant when RantWoman already needs to rant about other topics. Hence the hastag and RantWoman will look up other info she needs later.

A while ago, RantWoman promised readers some meditations about transportation and elder care and adult family homes. Steam will still rise from RantWoman's fingers if she tackles that today. Instead RantWoman needs to go off about her own new transportation constraints called minimal walking. After weeks of various leg weakness, muscle spasms, and other delights, RantWoman finally went to a doctor. 

RantWoman got same-day x-rays. First RantWoman had to stand in a couple positions that reminded her, she probably has not one but two legs that are going to hurt sometimes. The diagonosis: Congratulations RantWoman, you have arthritis and other age-related issues which YouTube will offer abundant input about if one supplies one's birth year.

Arthritis??? I am too young to have arthritis!

Earth to RantWoman: look at your family tree. Uhhhh....

RantWoman walked out of the initial appointment calculating a path that would minimize pain because she had not recently munched any painkillers. Walk to Light Rail? Ummm? Walk to a couple different bus route options? Ummm.

Then RantWoman remembered a nearby bus stop and the Metro 65 which would take her directly to a Metro 48 stop she could ride to a Metro 8 stop and from there all the way home on the 8. Phew. What a relief.

With that window into RantWoman's current transportation thinking, RantWoman will now leave readers in suspense and report back after Day 1 on Thursday.

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Rose Monday in Germany ahead of Mardi Gras

 Humor. Some will consider it tasteless humor. It's German. RantWoman laughed VERY hard.

Laissez les bonnes temps roulez