Categories for DailyPost

Mar 6

2026

New York AG investigating Shah Alam’s death

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New York Attorney General Letitia James. Photo via WKBW. New York State Attorney General Letitia James has opened an investigation into the death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, the nearly-blind Rohingya refugee found dead last week, Investigative Post has learned. Specifically, James’ office appears to be investigating the role of the Erie County Sheriff Office, which held Shah Alam at the Erie County Holding Center for more than a year before handing him over to U.S. Border Patrol five days before his death. James outlined the initial scope of her inquiry in a letter to Rep. Tim Kennedy, who requested[...]

Posted 3 days ago

Mar 5

2026

Congress questions Noem about Buffalo refugee death

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Reps. Jerry Nadler (left) and Jamie Raskin (right), and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem (center). Images via YouTube. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday indicated her agency was reviewing the case of Nurul Amin Shah Alam but would not commit to opening or cooperating with any additional probes into his death, as lawmakers have called for. At a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing Wednesday, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-Manhattan) questioned Noem about several recent incidents involving ICE and Border Patrol, including the arrest of a Columbia student and the death of Shah Alam. Shah Alam, a nearly-blind Rohingya refugee,[...]

Posted 4 days ago

Mar 4

2026

New Trump policy threatens Buffalo refugees

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One day before U.S. Border Patrol agents abandoned a nearly-blind Rohingya man at a closed coffee shop in Buffalo, the Trump administration unveiled new rules putting hundreds more refugees like him in Buffalo at risk of ICE detention.  Those new rules say that any refugee who has lived in the United States for more than one year and who has not yet applied for a green card can be detained. But here’s the catch. Refugees must be physically present in the country for at least a year before the federal government allows them to submit an application for permanent residence.[...]

Posted 5 days ago

Mar 2

2026

Save the Michaels loses funding, closes facility

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A screenshot of a Facebook post showing a sign taped to a window at Save the Michaels Lockport location. Save the Michaels, a well-known addiction treatment nonprofit with services across Western New York, has indefinitely closed its Lockport office and is scaling back at least part of its operations at its Buffalo headquarters, according to current and former employees. The news follows announcements that New York State and Erie County officials are cutting off funding to the 15-year-old organization, as well as an Investigative Post investigation, published last week, into concerns about the nonprofit’s management.  In a Facebook post from[...]

Posted 6 days ago

Mar 2

2026

The story behind the stories of Burmese refugee

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Investigative Post broke one of the biggest stories of our 14-year history last week about Nurul Amin Shah Alam, the nearly blind Burmese refugee who died in the streets of downtown Buffalo six days after Border Patrol agents dropped him off at a doughnut shop and left to find his way home, five miles away. We published five stories last week. I want to give you a look under the hood at how we went about our work. Consider this column the story behind the stories. Last Monday, Feb. 23, J. Dale Shoemaker received an email from an immigration attorney informing[...]

Posted 7 days ago

Feb 28

2026

Shah Alam’s family speaks of their loss

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Khaleda Shah, right, comforts Fatimah Abdul Roshid, center, wife of Nurul Shah Alam, along with her son, Mohamad Faisal Nurul Amin, left. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker. Last Thursday —  the day that Nurul Amin Shah Alam was set to be released from jail — his son, friends of the family and other supporters waited for hours outside the Erie County Holding Center. His wife, Fatimah Abdul Roshid, had prepared a meal for the family at their Broadway-Fillmore apartment for Iftar, the breaking of the daily Ramadan fast. “We were ready with food, clothing, everything,” she said. “We thought he[...]

Posted 1 week ago

Feb 26

2026

Timeline: Burmese refugee’s arrest to death

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Police body camera footage of confrontation between police and Nurul Amin Shah Alam in February of last year. Buffalo police last year Tasered, beat and arrested the Burmese refugee who was found dead Tuesday in downtown, nearly a week after federal immigration agents dumped the man — who was nearly blind and spoke no English — at a coffee shop miles from his home. Police bodycam footage released Thursday to Investigative Post shows the encounter last February between two officers and Nurul Amin Shah Alam, which set into motion the chain of events that ended in Shah Alam’s death.  Shah[...]

Posted 1 week ago

Feb 26

2026

Calls for investigation into refugee’s death

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Investigative Post’s J. Dale Shoemaker discusses his reporting on MS Now. Story last updated Thursday at 4:20 p.m. U.S. Congressional leaders and others across New York are demanding investigations into U.S. Border Patrol following the Tuesday death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a nearly blind Rohingya refugee who was found dead in downtown Buffalo days after being abandoned by agents at a doughnut shop miles from his home. After being released from the Erie County Holding Center last Thursday, sheriff’s deputies handed Shah Alam over to Border Patrol agents who, after determining that ICE had agreed not to detain and[...]

Posted 2 weeks ago
Investigative Post