New York Attorney General Letitia James. Image via WKBW.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with a comment from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has concluded her office lacks the authority to prosecute the U.S. Border Patrol agents who abandoned Nurul Amin Shah Alam, the nearly blind Rohingya refugee, at a closed coffee shop in February.
In an Aug. 3 letter obtained by Investigative Post, James said her criminal probe into Shah Alam’s death is now closed. Instead, her office has turned its focus to a civil investigation to examine “any systemic issues that need to be addressed.”
Those include questions as to whether the Erie County Sheriff’s Office “provided for [Shah Alam’s] language and disability needs, whether his medical concerns were appropriately addressed, and whether his prolonged detention exacerbated his vulnerability.”
James, however, wrote to Erie County District Attorney Michael Keane that his office is not bound by the same prohibition on prosecuting federal agents.
“As you are already aware, our [civil] investigation in no way precludes you and your office from taking action on this case,” James wrote to Keane. “Should you decide to take any additional action on this matter, my office stands ready to serve as a resource in any way that would be helpful.”
Kaitlyn Munro, a spokesperson for Keane, said in a statement to Investigative Post that the DA’s office is continuing to investigate Shah Alam’s death. That probe was opened in April after the Erie County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide because Border Patrol agents left him in “a hostile environment that he could not reasonably be expected to extricate himself.”
Munro declined to comment on whether Keane might pursue criminal charges.
Timeline: Burmese refugee’s arrest to death
In a statement, Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan said Shah Alam’s death “deserves a full and thorough accounting.”
“If the Erie County District Attorney determines that a criminal investigation is warranted, the City of Buffalo stands ready to provide whatever assistance and cooperation is appropriate,” Ryan said.
Ryan added that the Trump administration “has a responsibility to investigate the actions of its own agents.”
In a May letter to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott wrote that his agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility had opened an investigation, but also asserted that his agents had followed all rules when dropping off Shah Alam.
“Mr. Shah Alam did not display signs of impairment or distress, and agents observed no disability requiring special assistance,” Scott wrote to Gillibrand. “CBP followed all applicable laws and policies, including assessments for medical or other special needs, and ensured communication in a language he understood.”
In a statement to Investigative Post, a CBP spokesperson repeated Scott’s assertions but did not comment on James’ decision to drop her probe.
Gillibrand has since called on the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General to probe Shah Alam’s death.
