Nigerians and other African illegal immigrants in the United States are worried that they may be the next target for deportation by the American government.
It would be recalled that American President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders aimed at hardening immigration policies, including the stoppage of citizenship by birth for children of illegal immigrants.
The administration has rounded up 538 Mexican immigrants and deported them to their home country.
Trump has also signed orders to declare a national emergency at the Mexico-US southern border, as he threatened to deport “criminal aliens.”
The US Justice Department threatened to prosecute local and state authorities that fail to comply with Trump’s immigration directives, which include a pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
Trump’s Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, disclosed on her official X handle that ‘the largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway.’
Some US-based Nigerians who spoke with the Punch expressed their anxiety at the development expressing their fear that the government would shift its focus to Africans after it is done with the Mexicans, Haitians, and Indians.
Trump’s staunch supporter and Nigerian-American, Jacob Adegoke, said the current focus was on Mexicans and Haitians, while “The next will be Africans.”
A Nigerian media entrepreneur, Obi-West Utchaychukwu, corroborated Adegoke’s statement saying Nigerians had been monitoring the situation but none had yet to be arrested.
The publication was told a lot of Nigerians had become cautious about their movement around the streets.
A source in New York who asked to be called Adebayo for security reasons said, “There’s a lot of apprehension in the Nigerian community right now.”
“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 carrying out Trump’s deportation order, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have raided several establishments suspected of harbouring illegal immigrants and making arrests.
Immigration officials reportedly raided a business in Newark on Wednesday, detaining an American military veteran and multiple undocumented residents.
Confirming the incident, another source in New Jersey 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.”
Also, a Nigerian immigration lawyer in Maryland cited the instance of ICE officials going into a frozen food store in Newark, New Jersey, 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.”
Among those who can fall victims are unlawful immigrants with criminal records. Their criminal records may begin to haunt them.
The source also revealed that those in the US with student visas and other schemes were also scared of deportation.
