According to reports, Nigerians and other African illegal immigrants in the United States may be the next deportation target by the American government.
Punch News reported that the fear of deportation has gripped many Nigerians that are illegally staying in the United States, following President Donald Trump’s declaration of war against illegal immigration
On the day of his inauguration as the 47th President of the US, Trump signed many executive orders aimed at tightening immigration policies, including the abolition of citizenship by birth for children of illegal immigrants.
Trump has also signed orders to declare a national emergency at the Mexico-US southern border, stating the deployment of additional troops to the area as he pledged to deport “criminal aliens.”
The US Justice Department threatened to prosecute local and state authorities that refuse to comply with Trump’s immigration directives, which include deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants.
After the directive, 538 illegal immigrants were recently deported from the United States.
However, Trump’s Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, revealed on her official X handle that ‘the largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway.’
The development has triggered anxiety amongst the Nigerian communities in the US, as a lot of them feared deportation.
While talking to Sunday PUNCH, some Nigerians revealed that the government would beam its searchlight on Nigerian illegal immigrants after the deportation of Mexicans, Haitians, and Indians.
Jacob Adegoke, a staunch supporter of Trump and Nigerian-American, said the current focus was on Mexicans and Haitians, while “The next will be Africans.”
Adegoke’s statement was corroborated by Obi-West Utchaychukwu, a Nigerian media entrepreneur, who said Nigerians had been monitoring the situation but no one had yet to be arrested.
Sunday PUNCH revealed further that many Nigerians had become cautious about their movement around the streets.
According to a source in New York who spoke to the media platform, “There’s a lot of apprehension in the Nigerian community right now.”
The source added: “While I haven’t personally witnessed any arrest, many undocumented Nigerian immigrants are deeply worried about the policies of the new government. My neighbour even called me yesterday, warning me to be cautious when going out, as there are reports of even people with valid papers being targeted by ICE.”
In executing Trump’s deportation order, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have raided several organizations suspected of harbouring illegal immigrants and making arrests.
It was reported that Immigration officials raided a business in Newark recently and detained an American military veteran and many undocumented residents.
Another source in New Jersey confirmed the development and said: “The viral case of an American veteran being arrested alongside undocumented immigrants has only heightened the panic. However, the fact that some US states are challenging the executive orders is offering a bit of reassurance.”
In the same vein, a Nigerian immigration lawyer in Maryland who spoke with Sunday PUNCH said: “For example, in Newark, New Jersey, they went to a frozen food store to search for illegal immigrants.
“More Nigerians fall into that category. Again, people on student visas and similar kinds of visas hoping to transition into something more are also in this group.”
