After serving 43 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, Subramanyam Subu Vedam was finally free. New evidence had exonerated him earlier this month of the murder of his former roommate. But before he could reach his family's arms, Mr. Vedam was taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who want to deport him to India - a country he has not lived in since he was a baby.

Now, Mr. Vedam's legal team is fighting a deportation order and his family is determined to get him out of custody, for good.

His family are now working to navigate a new and very different situation, his sister Saraswathi Vedam told the BBC. Her brother has gone from a facility where he knew inmates and guards alike, where he mentored fellow inmates, and where he had his own cell, to a facility where he shares a room with 60 men and where his history of good behaviour and mentorship is unknown.

Mr. Vedam has been repeating one message to his sister and other family members in the wake of the new situation: I want us to focus on the win.

My name has been cleared, I'm no longer a prisoner, I'm a detainee.

The 1980 murder

More than 40 years ago, Mr. Vedam was convicted of murdering his once-roommate Tom Kinser, a 19-year-old college student. Kinser's body was found nine months after he went missing in a wooded area with a bullet wound in his skull. On the day of Kinser's disappearance, Mr. Vedam had asked him for a ride. While the vehicle Kinser drove was returned to its usual spot, no one saw it being returned. Mr. Vedam was charged with Kinser's murder. He was denied bail, had his passport and green card seized by authorities, and was labelled a foreigner likely to flee. Two years later he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Throughout that time, Mr. Vedam maintained his innocence on the murder charges. His supporters and family members stressed there was no physical evidence tying him to the crime.

Mr. Vedam's exoneration

Mr. Vedam repeatedly appealed the murder conviction, and a few years ago, new evidence in the case surfaced which exonerated him. Earlier this month, Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna stated he would not pursue a new trial against Mr. Vedam. However, his family knew there was one hurdle left before he was free: a 1988 deportation order existed based on his prior convictions. While he was exonerated for the murder charge, his drug conviction still stands. ICE detained him citing the immigration order as the reasoning. Mr. Vedam's family emphasized his decades of good behaviour and completion of three degrees while behind bars should be factored into his immigration case.

Potential deportation to India

The family has stressed Mr. Vedam's ties to India, where ICE announced they would like to deport him, are weak at best. While born there, he moved to the US at only nine months old. His community, including his sister and other relatives, reside in the US and Canada. He will again be robbed and miss out on the lives of the people closest to him, by being halfway across the world, Ms. Vedam commented. His citizenship application had been accepted prior to his arrest, and both of his parents were US citizens. We believe deportation from the United States to send him to a country where he has few connections would represent another terrible wrong done to a man who has already endured a record-setting injustice, his lawyer, Ava Benach stated.