Headline

US-based Nigerians Go Into Hiding Amid Trump’s Deportation Crackdown

Published

5 months ago

February 1, 2025

Nigerian illegal immigrants in the United States have disclosed that they have restricted their movements to public places to avoid being arrested and deported.

This came as they expressed optimism that they would be protected against deportation by the many lawsuits filed against President Donald Trump over his immigration policies.

Some of the illegal immigrants, who spoke to The PUNCH, said they had refrained from going to work, church, and public places since Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States as a sacrifice to continue staying in the country.

3,690 Nigerians face deportation

About 3,690 Nigerians in the United States are facing deportation, according to a document compiled by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Removal Operations.

The document, titled, ‘Non-citizens on the ICE Non-Detained Docket with Final Orders of Removal by Country of Citizenship,’ shows that Mexico and El Salvador top the list of nations facing the highest number of deportations, with 252,044 and 203,822, respectively.

As revealed in the document, 1,445,549 non-citizens were on ICE’s non-detained docket with final removal orders as of November 24, 2024.

On his inauguration day, Trump signed a series of executive orders aimed at toughening immigration policies, including the termination of birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants.

The US Justice Department also threatened to prosecute local and state authorities that failed to comply with Trump’s immigration directives, which included a pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

Following the directive, 538 illegal immigrants were deported from the United States on January 23.

We no longer go out – Nigerian immigrants

Meanwhile, Trump’s Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, disclosed on her official X handle that the largest deportation operation in history was underway.

Reports had it earlier that Nigerians and other African illegal immigrants in the United States might be the next targets for deportation by the American government.

However, our correspondents gathered that the affected Nigerians had devised means to avoid being deported, expressing fear that their forced return to Nigeria might spell doom for them.

In separate interviews, the illegal immigrants, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being identified, stated that their difficult living conditions in the US were better than returning to Nigeria, citing reports of hardship and insecurity as their major concerns.

One of the affected Nigerians, who resides in Tampa, Florida, said he had stopped going to work to avoid being arrested by ICE operatives.

He said, “Ever since Trump came to power and acted on his threat of deportation, some of us have stopped going to work because ICE officers can raid workplaces to arrest illegal immigrants at any time.”

Aside from that, the distressed Nigerian said he had also stopped going to church and other public places, disclosing that the only safe place for him was his house.

“I work in a factory with many other Nigerians and Africans. Some other Africans who are also illegal immigrants have stopped going to work. The fear of Trump is the beginning of wisdom now.

“I don’t go to church anymore because it is possible to be arrested there. For now, the only safe place is your house—stay indoors.”

However, he expressed optimism that the deportation exercise would be relaxed after some months.

“We survived Obama’s deportation actions; we will survive this one as well. We hope that the various lawsuits against the immigration policies will slow things down and eventually restrain Trump from carrying them out.”

Asked why he had yet to regularise his documents, he said all efforts to validate his stay in the US had been futile.

According to him, all the systems he tried to obtain valid residency papers didn’t work for him, lamenting that he had lost close to $30,000 in the process.

He said, “I left Nigeria for the US in 2013, and I have been trying to get my papers since then. I was scammed through marriage and other means. In this regularisation process, I have lost close to $30,000. At a point, I wanted to file for asylum, but I was advised against it because I had spent over three years without valid papers. I decided to take under-the-table jobs instead.”

Another Nigerian illegal immigrant in Columbus, Ohio said he stopped going to work for the first week after Trump’s inauguration due to fear of being deported.

According to him, though Nigerians are not the primary targets of the mass deportation exercise, any foreign national staying in the US illegally can be arrested and deported by ICE operatives at any time.

He explained that the first set of illegal immigrants being deported were those with criminal records, noting that the process of deporting others without criminal offences had also begun.

“I cannot assume that Nigerians are not their target now and become exposed to them. No. The best self-defence is to stay out of trouble, and the best way to avoid being deported is to stay out of sight of ICE officers.

“The truth is, Trump’s war on illegal immigrants has restricted our movements. People are mindful of where they go now. The situation is like a rat monitoring the presence of a cat before stepping out. Personally, I stopped going to work the first week Trump was inaugurated, and I have not been going to work regularly since. May we not be unfortunate.

“Going back to Nigeria is not an option—not when millions of Nigerians are trying to japa because of hardship and insecurity. My difficult living conditions here are still better than what is considered ‘comfortable’ in Nigeria. However, we hope that this threat will subside in the next few months,” he said.

Speaking with The PUNCH, a Nigerian journalist in the US said many Africans in the country were anxious about Trump’s immigration policies.

“If they ask all of us to go back to our countries, we will have no choice but to leave. It is their country. If Nigeria were a better place, nobody would have left in the first place, and many of us would be ready to go back home. But unfortunately, our country has been plagued by bad leadership,” he stated.

According to him, the deportation exercise is more welcomed in Republican-controlled states than in Democrat states.

He confirmed that many Nigerians and other Africans had restricted their movements in various parts of the US to avoid being arrested and deported.

“It is true that Nigerians are avoiding public places, including their workplaces and churches, but it is not in every state,” he stated.

Also, a Nigerian Uber driver in New York, who identified himself only as Mathew, said some of his colleagues had been staying home and reducing their movements in the neighbourhoods.

“A lot of my Nigerian colleagues are not coming out for now. They can’t just risk it. They are all afraid of deportation,” he said.

Speaking with The PUNCH, a Nigerian lawyer in the US disclosed that many Nigerian churches had instructed their members who are illegal immigrants to join online services.

“Some people have gone underground. Nigerian churches are advising their congregations to worship online and not come to church if they are undocumented,” he said.

(PUNCH)

Headline

Family Of Five Killed In Iranian Missile Strike After Fleeing Ukraine For Safety In Israel

Published

15 hours ago

June 28, 2025

Editor

A Ukrainian family of five who fled Russia’s war in search of safety were killed in Israel by an Iranian missile — the very conflict they thought they had escaped.

Mariia Pieshkurova had brought her 7-year-old daughter, Anastasiia, to Bat Yam, a suburb of Tel Aviv, hoping to get lifesaving cancer treatment and refuge from the violence at home.

Along with Anastasiia’s grandmother, Olena Sokolova, and two young cousins, Illia and Kostiantyn, they had started over — believing they were finally safe.

But on June 15, an Iranian missile tore through their apartment building during a retaliatory strike on Israel, killing them all.

“I really thought they’d be safe,” said Artem Buryk, Anastasiia’s father and Mariia’s former partner. “I never thought they’d go to Israel to escape war — and find it there.”

The missile attack, part of Iran’s response to Israeli airstrikes on its territory, collapsed much of the building in Bat Yam.

It took four days to recover Mariia’s body from the rubble.

Their deaths marked a heartbreaking intersection of two wars — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Iran’s conflict with Israel — both of which had already tested the family’s will to survive.

Mariia had moved to Israel in late 2022 after Anastasiia was diagnosed with leukemia.

Ukraine’s hospitals were overwhelmed, and its largest children’s hospital was later destroyed in a missile strike.

In Israel, treatment began immediately. It was effective but costly. Mariia turned to Instagram, sharing photos of her daughter in treatment and videos of Artem pleading for help while serving on Ukraine’s front lines.

“Masha did everything for her little girl,” said Anastasiia’s godmother, Khrytsyna Chanysheva. “She dedicated her life to her, moved to Israel to get her full treatment.”

Despite the pain, Anastasiia always smiled at visitors.

“She was in pain, and she would close her eyes for a second,” said charity worker Lada Fichkovsi. “But every time I walked into her room, she would smile.”

Her cousins joined the family in May 2024 as the situation in Odesa deteriorated.

“The shelling made my children cry,” said Hanna Pieshkurova, Mariia’s sister. “I decided to let them go.”

Though Israel was at war with Hamas, Mariia had assured her sister that Bat Yam was calm. Air raid sirens were rare, and the Iron Dome defense system offered hope.

“Ukrainians often say, ‘This is not Ukraine, it’s not as scary,’” said Inna Bakhareva of Chance4Life, a charity helping sick children in Israel. “They felt secure due to the Iron Dome.”

That sense of security evaporated after Israel struck Iranian targets on June 12. Iran retaliated with missile attacks across Israeli cities.

“Dad, at night I saw how the missiles were falling,” Anastasiia told her father in a voice message the night before she died.

She and her mother had been scheduled to visit the hospital the next morning. The missile struck before dawn.

Mr. Buryk, who had just returned from the front lines near Sumy, received the news that same day.

“I still don’t understand what’s happening,” he said. “I still can’t believe it.”

He used to promise Anastasiia they’d go fishing together when peace returned.

“Every time I talked to her, I’d say, ‘Sweetheart, we’ll go fishing. Just us,’” he said. “And now I just don’t understand. I still don’t even grasp that she’s gone.”

“Last night,” he added quietly, “I sent her voice messages.”

(New York Times)

Headline

Militia Attack On DRC IDP Camp, Kills 10, Mostly Women, Children

Published

1 day ago

June 27, 2025

Editor

An armed group at the centre of a long-running ethnic conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s northeast attacked a camp for displaced people on Friday, killing 10, local sources told AFP.

Bordering Uganda, Ituri province has for years been the scene of pitched battles between the Lendu, a group mainly made up of settled farmers, and the Hema people, typically nomadic herders.

The fighting has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and the mass displacement of many more.

Friday’s assault on the Djangi displaced persons camp was carried out by the self-proclaimed Cooperative for the Development of Congo (Codeco), a Lendu-aligned militia responsible for previous civilian massacres, the camp’s head told AFP.

“They were many and armed with firearms and machetes. They surprised us, they killed 10 displaced people, most of them women and children,” said Richard Likana.

An employee of the Red Cross, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed the attack, which took place around 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Bunia.

“They were cut up with machetes while others were shot,” the humanitarian worker added.

Congolese army Colonel Ruffin Mapela, the local administrator for Djugu territory where the camp is located, gave the same toll of 10 dead and put the number of injured at 15.

According to local and humanitarian sources, Codeco was responsible for an attack on February 10 which killed 51 people in Ituri province. Most of the victims were also displaced persons.

That raid was said to be a response to a strike by the rival Hema-led Zaire militia in the same area.

Violence between the Hema and Lendu killed thousands in gold-rich Ituri from 1999-2003, which only ended after European forces intervened.

The conflict erupted again in 2017, killing thousands more.

The violence has led to more than 1.5 million people leaving their homes, according to the UN.

AFP

Headline

Israel Wants Global Action Against Iran’s Nuclear Plans

Published

1 day ago

June 27, 2025

Editor

Israel’s foreign minister said on Friday that the world was obliged to stop Iran from developing an atomic bomb, days after Israel claimed it had “thwarted Iran’s nuclear project” in a 12-day war.

“Israel acted at the last possible moment against an imminent threat to itself, the region, and the international community,” Gideon Saar wrote on X.

“The international community must now prevent, by any effective means, the world’s most extreme regime from obtaining the most dangerous weapon.”

Israel and Iran each claimed victory in the war that ended with a ceasefire on June 24.

The conflict erupted on June 13 when Israel launched a bombing campaign, stating it aimed to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon—an ambition Iran has consistently denied.

Following waves of Israeli attacks on nuclear and military sites, the United States bombed three key facilities, with President Donald Trump insisting it had set Iran’s nuclear programme back by “decades”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an address to the nation after the ceasefire, announced that “we have thwarted Iran’s nuclear project”.

However, there is no consensus as to how effective the strikes were.
On Friday, Iran rejected a request by UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi to visit the bombed facilities, saying it suggested “malign intent”.

The comments from Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi came after parliament approved a bill suspending cooperation with the UN watchdog.

In a post on X following the move, Saar said Iran “continues to mislead the international community and actively works to prevent effective oversight of its nuclear programme”.