After spending 43 years behind bars for a murder he didn&rsquo;t commit, Subramanyam &lsquo;Subu&rsquo; Vedam&rsquo;s long-awaited freedom has turned into a fresh ordeal. The 64-year-old Indian-origin man walked out of Pennsylvania&rsquo;s Huntingdon State Correctional Institution on October 3 after a court overturned his wrongful conviction but was immediately detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Vedam, who left India as an infant, was convicted in 1982 for the murder of a friend, a charge now proven false after prosecutors were found to have hidden key evidence. His exoneration, however, hasn&rsquo;t shielded him from an old deportation order dating back to the 1980s, linked to both the overturned murder case and a minor drug offence from his teenage years.
According to his family, Vedam is now being held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center. &ldquo;Since the wrongful conviction has been vacated and all charges dismissed, we&rsquo;ve asked the immigration court to reopen his case and consider his exoneration,&rdquo; they said in a statement posted on the &lsquo;Free Subu&rsquo; campaign website.
ICE, however, insists Vedam remains a &ldquo;priority for enforcement,&rdquo; citing his past record. &ldquo;Individuals who have exhausted all avenues of immigration relief and possess standing removal orders are priorities for enforcement,&rdquo; the agency said. For Vedam, freedom after four decades in a US prison may now lead to exile from the only country he&rsquo;s ever truly known.

Freed After 43 Years, Indian Man Faces Deportation

Subramanyam Vedam, cleared of murder after 43 years, now held by US immigration

Freed After 43 Years, Indian Man Faces Deportation

Subramanyam Vedam, cleared of murder after 43 years, now held by US immigration

October 14, 2025 | 10:44 IST