The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving a Nigerian man who was denied asylum and deported after allegedly providing support to a separatist group by cooking meals at its camp.
The case centres on whether cooking for members of a group designated as a terrorist organisation under US law amounts to providing “material support” for terrorism, a question that could have significant implications for asylum seekers in the country.
In an order issued on Tuesday, the Supreme Court agreed to consider the Trump administration’s request to overturn a federal appeals court ruling that had set aside the earlier decision denying asylum to the Nigerian man, identified as Izuchukwu Ozurumba.
The case will be heard during the court’s current term, which began on October 5 and is scheduled to run until late June.
The outcome could influence how US immigration authorities interpret the concept of material support for terrorism, particularly in cases involving individuals who claim they were forced to assist armed or separatist groups.
According to court records, Ozurumba said he was compelled to cook for approximately six months at a separatist group’s camp in southern Nigeria beginning in 2022.
He later fled to Venezuela before crossing the US-Mexico border illegally in the summer of 2023 in search of protection in the United States.
In 2024, a US immigration judge rejected his asylum application and ordered his deportation, relying on a provision of American immigration law that disqualifies foreign nationals who provide material support to terrorist organisations from receiving asylum.
The decision was subsequently upheld on appeal.
Ozurumba’s lawyers said he was deported to Nigeria in April 2025. However, a federal appeals court later overturned the earlier decisions and returned the case to the immigration court for further consideration.
In its ruling, the appeals court questioned whether preparing meals for the group was sufficient to establish that Ozurumba had provided material support for terrorist activities.
The court acknowledged that cooking with food and supplies purchased by the organisation might have helped sustain its members in a broad sense. However, it argued that there was no evidence that his activities provided resources the group could readily use or redirect towards planning or carrying out terrorist operations.
The appeals court further observed that the available evidence suggested Ozurumba was a captive labourer whose work was unrelated to the group’s terrorist activities.
The Trump administration is challenging that ruling at the Supreme Court as part of its broader efforts to enforce immigration laws and deport undocumented immigrants.
The justices will now consider whether Ozurumba’s alleged actions fall within the legal definition of material support for terrorism, despite his claim that he was forced to perform the work.
The case has drawn attention to the challenges faced by asylum seekers whose circumstances may involve coercion, forced labour or other forms of compelled assistance to organisations accused of terrorism.
With six conservative justices and three liberal justices on the Supreme Court, the eventual ruling could have consequences beyond Ozurumba’s individual case, potentially shaping how similar asylum applications are assessed under US immigration law.
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