He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam "Subu" Vedam walked free on October 3, 2025, after 43 years of wrongful imprisonment for a 1980 murder he didn't commit. Immigration officers immediately detained him at Pennsylvania's Huntingdon State prison gates, citing a decades-old deportation order[^1].

The 64-year-old, who came to the U.S. from India as a 9-month-old infant, faces deportation despite having no connections there. "He doesn't speak Hindi," his niece Zoë Miller-Vedam told USA Today. "We tease him that he has more of a Philadelphia accent than anything else"[^2].

During his imprisonment, Vedam earned multiple degrees including an MBA with a 4.0 GPA, taught literacy to fellow inmates, and received over 51 commendations for volunteer service[^{3]. His exoneration came after the Pennsylvania Innocence Project discovered concealed FBI evidence showing the murder weapon couldn't have caused the victim's wounds[}3].

His family, all U.S. citizens, was devastated by ICE's intervention. "He's unfamiliar with modern technology, he wouldn't know how to find housing or a job," Miller-Vedam said. "In the US, he'd have family and a support system to help him rebuild his life"[^2].

[^1]: Times of India - Indian-origin Subu Vedam to be deported after 43 years in US jail, family says 'he doesn't speak Hindi'

[^2]: Times of India - Indian-origin Subu Vedam to be deported after 43 years in US jail, family says 'he doesn't speak Hindi'

[^3]: WSWS - Subu Vedam, falsely imprisoned for 43 years, seized by ICE for deportation