U.S. Supreme Court takes up Nigerian’s asylum case over alleged terrorist support<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a Nigerian’s asylum case that could redefine how American immigration authorities determine support for terrorist organisations.<\/p>\n
The country’s highest court announced on Tuesday that it would review the case of Izuchukwu Ozurumba, a Nigerian previously denied asylum for allegedly supporting an armed group.<\/p>\n
The decision follows a legal challenge by the administration of President Donald Trump against an earlier federal appeals court ruling favouring the Nigerian.<\/p>\n
According to official court documents explained the dispute centres on the interpretation of material support under American immigration law.<\/p>\n
The case, Blanche v. Ozurumba, numbered 25-1343, concerns whether assistance must advance actual terrorist activities before qualifying as material support to a terrorist organisation.<\/p>\n
Ozurumba, 56, had sought asylum in the United States after fleeing Nigeria, where he claimed an armed group forced him to prepare meals for its leaders.<\/p>\n
Court records indicate that he accepted a cooking job in 2022 without initially knowing that his prospective employers were associated with an organisation known as the Unknown Gunmen.<\/p>\n
He subsequently discovered the group’s activities but claimed he could not leave because armed guards controlled the camp.<\/p>\n
According to his testimony, he prepared three meals daily for approximately 15 to 17 leaders before eventually escaping after about six months.<\/p>\n
Ozurumba claimed that members of the group subsequently threatened his life and attacked him, prompting his departure from Nigeria.<\/p>\n
He entered the United States through its southern border in July 2023 and subsequently applied for asylum and protection against deportation.<\/p>\n
However, an immigration judge rejected his application in March 2024, ruling that preparing meals for the group’s leadership constituted material support to a terrorist organisation.<\/p>\n
The Board of Immigration Appeals upheld the decision, maintaining that American immigration law did not exempt relatively minor assistance or support provided under coercion.<\/p>\n
Ozurumba challenged the ruling before the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which overturned the deportation order in September 2025.<\/p>\n
Writing for the majority, Judge James Wynn ruled that the Nigerian’s activities did not satisfy the legal requirements for material support.<\/p>\n
The court described Ozurumba as a “captive laborer whose work had nothing to do with those activities,” referring to the organisation’s alleged terrorist operations.<\/p>\n
It concluded that his cooking was insufficiently connected to the group’s terrorist activities to justify denying him asylum under the material-support provision.<\/p>\n
However, Judge Julius Richardson dissented, arguing that preparing thousands of meals for an organisation involved in terrorism constituted meaningful assistance.<\/p>\n
“An army marches on its stomach,” Richardson wrote, challenging the majority’s interpretation of the law.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration subsequently asked the Supreme Court to review the decision, arguing that the appeals court had adopted an excessively narrow interpretation of material support.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court’s October 13 order granted the government’s petition, setting the stage for a definitive ruling on the disputed provision.<\/p>\n
Court documents also disclose that Ozurumba was deported to Nigeria on April 1, 2025, while his appeal remained pending.<\/p>\n
The appeals court subsequently declined to order his immediate return, leaving immigration authorities to determine whether his presence was necessary for further proceedings.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court’s eventual judgment could influence asylum applications involving people who claim they were compelled to provide services to armed organisations.<\/p>\n
It could also clarify the distinction between assistance to a terrorist organisation and conduct that directly advances terrorist activities.<\/p>\n
The court has not yet ruled on the merits of the case, and granting the government’s petition does not establish that Ozurumba provided prohibited material support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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