The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has announced that the Federal Government is prepared to welcome any Nigerians who may be deported from the United States.
In an interview with Vanguard on Tuesday evening, NiDCOM’s Director of Media and Corporate Affairs, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was responsible for managing such matters. He added that the government had already established an inter-agency committee to handle the situation if Nigerians were deported from the US.
“The Federal Government has set up an inter-agency committee, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NiDCOM, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, and the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), in the event of a mass deportation of Nigerians from the US,” Balogun explained.
However, the NiDCOM spokesperson clarified that the commission had not been made aware of any ongoing deportation processing for Nigerians in America.
It is important to note that approximately 3,690 Nigerians in the United States are at risk of deportation as part of Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. According to data compiled by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and seen by our correspondent on Tuesday, this number is part of a broader group of non-citizens facing removal from the US.
The document, titled “Noncitizens on the ICE Non-Detained Docket with Final Orders of Removal by Country of Citizenship,” reveals that Mexico and El Salvador have the highest deportation figures, with 252,044 and 203,822 individuals, respectively. As of November 24, 2024, there are 1,445,549 non-citizens on ICE’s non-detained docket with final removal orders.
The ICE is responsible for safeguarding the US from cross-border crime and illegal immigration that could pose a national security threat.
Meanwhile, last Thursday, hundreds of migrants were arrested, and others were flown out of the country on military aircraft, as part of Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
Reports suggest that Nigerians and other African immigrants may soon become a target for further deportations under the US government’s immigration enforcement efforts.
