As President Donald Trump maintains his crackdown on undocumented immigrants, at least 5,144 Nigerians could be impacted in the first phase of the ongoing deportation exercises from the United States of America.
Non-detained dockets with final orders of removal from the United States and those already in ICE detention are included in the figure, as are non-US citizens of Nigerian origin in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) departments.
At press time last night, attempts to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the issue were unsuccessful.
However, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission( NiDCOM), informed the media that in the event that Donald Trump’s administration deports a large number of Nigerians, an interagency committee has already been established by the federal government to address the issue.
Additionally, according to recent ICE data, 1,454 more people are presently being held and are being charged with deportation to Nigeria.
The data shows that 772 of the 1,454 Nigerians in ICE custody were detained and arrested due to criminal convictions or ongoing criminal accusations, while the remaining individuals were detained for other immigration offences, including overstaying their visa.
Additionally, it revealed that 884 people were removed between 2019 and 2024, compared to 417 who were arrested and removed as of November 2024.
The ICE revelation coincides with the Trump administration’s recent immigration policy, which aims to purge the United States of undocumented immigrants.
In the initial days of the operation after the mass deportation, around 3,000 “criminal aliens” have been taken into custody.
Although illegal immigrants with known criminal histories were the focus of the early arrests and deportations, there is growing concern that other illegal immigrants, particularly those on the non-detained list with removal orders from the states, could soon come under scrutiny.
A list that ICE maintains of people they suspect to be removable non-citizens who are currently living in the United States but are not in ICE detention is known as a “non-detained docket.”
In essence, they are individuals who are not ICE detained at the moment but are still being watched for possible deportation.
Even though accelerated removal allows for deportation without a court order, ICE often uses its final order of removal authority from an immigration court to remove an individual in the non-detained docket.
The last order of deportation.
An immigrant who has broken immigration laws, been convicted of a crime, or has an expired immigration status is typically subject to a final order of removal. According to the document, ICE stated that it is unable to provide a list of case-specific reasons why it cannot remove specific non-citizens from the non-detained docket with final orders.
“There are several reasons ICE is unable to effectuate removals. Under Title 8 of the U.S. Code, ICE may remove non-citizens from the United States who are subject to final orders of removal issued by an immigration judge or other lawful orders, including those processed under expedited removal who either have not claimed a fear of return or received a negative credible fear determination affirmed by an immigration judge.
“However, this does not guarantee every person seeking to remain in the United States will be able to do so.
“Non-citizens may pursue a form of relief or protection from removal, which may include asylum, withholding of removal, or protection under the Convention Against Torture. If a non-citizen is granted any form of relief from removal, ICE is unable to effectuate the removal.
“Additionally, ICE works to remove undocumented non-citizens from the United States once they are subject to final orders of removal in a timely manner.
“The U.S. government believes every country is obligated to accept the return of its citizens and nationals who are ineligible to remain in the United States. Lack of cooperation from the foreign government delays and, in many cases, inhibits the removal process,” ICE noted.
President Trump has also ordered ICE and ERO to increase the number of arrests and removals to 1,200 to 1,500 per day.
Patrick J. Lechleitner, ICE Deputy Director and top officer carrying out the director’s responsibilities, commented on the removals, saying ICE is demonstrating its commitment to openness and transparency with the public release of this enforcement data.
‘’We will continue to evaluate and enhance how the agency communicates measurable data to best inform how our officers and special agents perform their law enforcement missions in accordance with departmental and agency priorities.”
Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman stated: “Today’s action empowers law enforcement officials at the DOJ to help identify and apprehend aliens who have illegally come into our country.” This action follows the directive that gave the Department of Justice, DOJ, law enforcement officials in the U.S. Marshals, Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons authority to investigate and apprehend illegal aliens.
“Mobilizing these law enforcement officials will help fulfill President Trump’s promise to the American people to carry out mass deportations.
“For decades, efforts to find and apprehend illegal aliens have not been given proper resources. This is a major step in fixing that problem.”
If FG’s inter-agency c’ttee is already established, The Nidcom
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), was contacted to provide a response, but stated that it was unaware of any deportation proceedings involving Nigerians in the United States.
Although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was in charge of such developments, Abdurahman Balogun, the commission’s Director of Media and Corporate Affairs, stated that the Federal Government had already established an inter-agency committee to handle the matter in the event that Nigerians were deported from the United States because it was a consular matter.
“The Federal Government has set up an inter-agency committee, comprising the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NiDCOM, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, should there be mass deportation of Nigerians from the US,” Balogun stated.