The U.S. Border Patrol shared false information about the abandonment of a nearly blind refugee who later died on the street.
Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a Rohingya refugee from Myanmar, was left by Border Patrol agents outside a Tim Hortons outlet on the evening of Feb. 19 in Buffalo, New York, around five miles from his home.
Shah Alam, who barely spoke English and relied on a walking stick to stay mobile, was found dead five days later. Border Patrol said Shah Alam “showed no signs of distress, mobility issues, or disabilities requiring special assistance” when agents left him outside the coffee shop, describing the Tim Hortons as “a warm, safe location near his last known address.”
However, surveillance footage obtained by The Washington Post and Investigative Post reveals that Shah Alam was abandoned in the Tim Hortons parking lot more than an hour after the store had closed.
The Department of Homeland Security continued pushing the false claim that Shah Alam was dropped off in a safe, warm location—despite evidence he was left in a parking lot in below-freezing conditions—while responding to criticism on X on Thursday.
“Here are the FACTS. On February 19, 2026, Buffalo Police Department alerted Border Patrol about a non-citizen in their custody. Our agents confirmed that Mr. Shah Alam entered the United States as a refugee on December 24, 2024, and was not amenable to removal,” DHS wrote.
“Border Patrol agents offered him a courtesy ride, which he chose to accept to a coffee shop, determined to be a warm, safe location near his last known address, rather than be released directly from the Border Patrol station.”
One reply was directed at Bulwark reporter Sam Stein, who wrote: “Still can’t really process that border patrol made the decision to leave a nearly-blind refugee outside a donut shop five miles from his house. And that he then (as could have easily been imagined) died. And that there likely won’t be any accountability for this.
“At any point in this process, a human being with actual human emotions, a capacity for critical thinking, and just a dollop of empathy, could have said: ‘you know, maybe this isn’t the best idea.’ But apparently that didn’t happen.”
Border Patrol agents did not notify Shah Alam’s family or his lawyer after leaving him outside the coffee shop.
The incident has sparked national outrage, with Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan calling Shah Alam’s death “disturbing” and “preventable,” and accusing Customs and Border Protection of being “unprofessional and inhumane.”
In a joint statement, New York Reps. Grace Meng and Tim Kennedy (D-Buffalo) said Border Patrol’s decision to dump Shah Alam outside Tim Hortons “was a profound failure of duty and basic human decency that cost a man his life. There must be a full and thorough investigation into why this happened.”
Shah Alam, who had arrived in Buffalo from Myanmar in December 2024, was arrested last year on charges of assault, burglary, and criminal mischief following an incident at a woman’s property on Feb. 15, 2025.
He was accused of trespassing in a woman’s backyard after getting lost while returning from a store where he had purchased a curtain rod to use as a walking stick. The homeowner accused Shah Alam of letting her dog escape when he opened the back door and of damaging a shed door with the rod.
When Shah Alam did not understand officers’ commands to drop the rod, police Tasered and arrested him. He ultimately pleaded guilty on Feb. 9 to misdemeanor charges of trespassing and possession of a weapon, and was scheduled to be sentenced in March.
He was released on bail earlier this month after agreeing to a plea deal that allowed him to avoid the mandatory deportation that would have resulted from a felony conviction, Erie County District Attorney Mike Keane said.
The Daily Beast has contacted Customs and Border Protection for comment.
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