Justices to weigh whether forced cooking for armed group blocks Nigerian man's asylum

The US Supreme Court said on Tuesday, October 13, that it will hear a federal government appeal concerning whether a Nigerian man who says he was forced to cook for an armed group should be denied asylum on grounds that he gave material support to terrorism, Reuters reported. The court agreed to review a lower ruling that favored Izuchukwu Ozurumba. Ozurumba's legal team says he was detained against his will and made to work without pay for a group called the Unknown Gunmen. According to court records, Ozurumba went to a remote camp outside Lagos in 2022 after hearing about a job. He worked as a cook, then learned the camp was run by the group, which was thought to have separatist ties. His lawyers said he grew suspicious when movements by some camp members lined up with reports of deadly attacks and destruction of property. Ozurumba allegedly attempted to leave but was stopped. After six months, he fled while on a trip to buy supplies and went back to Lagos. His lawyers said he later suffered physical attacks and threats against his life, leading him to escape to Venezuela, where the threats supposedly persisted. He crossed into the United States without authorization through its southern border in July 2023 and sought asylum and other protection from deportation. An immigration judge, during former President Joe Biden's administration, determined that the Unknown Gunmen was a terrorist organization and that Ozurumba's cooking constituted material support. The judge found that preparing meals assisted the group's aims by satisfying members' “basic human needs”. The judge also concluded that Ozurumba's forced-labour claim did not remove him from the restriction. His applications were rejected, and he was removed to Nigeria in 2025 while his appeal was still pending. In September 2025, a three-judge panel of the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals split in overturning the immigration judge's reading. The majority said Ozurumba was a captive worker whose cooking “provided nothing that the organisation could use or readily divert to plan or carry out its terrorist activities”. The appellate court sent his asylum case back for reconsideration but did not order US authorities to bring him back during the proceedings. The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to review that decision, arguing that making food for members of a terrorist organization counted as material support under immigration law. “Providing meals to a terrorist organization’s members is no less a material form of support than providing gasoline for its vehicles,” the Justice Department argued. It also warned that the appellate ruling would “substantially increase the burden on the government in excluding aliens with links to terrorism”. Aimee Mayer-Salins, a lawyer with the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, which represents Ozurumba, criticized the government's interpretation. “At stake in this case is whether the government can use an overly broad reading of the law to shut the door on people seeking asylum,” she said. She maintained that the appeals court “correctly recognized that asylum should not be denied to immigrants who provided no meaningful support to a terrorist group”. The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments and rule by the end of June 2027.