Overview
- Immigration Judge Tamar Wilson ruled Tuesday that Vedam must remain in ICE custody, citing mandatory detention tied to an old felony drug conviction and agreeing with DHS that he poses a safety risk.
- The Board of Immigration Appeals reopened his immigration case this month as an exceptional situation, allowing a fresh challenge to the decades-old removal order.
- Vedam’s 1980s murder conviction was thrown out in August 2025 after court records showed prosecutors withheld FBI measurements that undercut the ballistics theory presented at trial.
- Centre County prosecutors declined to retry the case and dropped charges on October 2, 2025, and ICE took Vedam into custody the next day on the standing deportation order.
- DHS says the vacated conviction will not halt enforcement and labels him a criminal illegal alien, while his attorney says he is a lawful permanent resident who came to the U.S. as an infant; no merits hearing on the reopened removal has been scheduled.