The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by President Donald Trump’s administration seeking to deny asylum to Izuchukwu Ozurumba, a Nigerian who allegedly was forced to cook for the separatist group known as the Unknown Gunmen.
According to Reuters, the court will review a lower court ruling that Ozurumba’s work as a cook did not amount to providing “material support” to a terrorist organisation under US immigration law.
Court documents show that Ozurumba travelled to a remote camp outside Lagos in 2022 after learning about a job opportunity. He was employed as a cook but later discovered that the camp was operated by the Unknown Gunmen, a group believed to have links to separatists in Nigeria.
His lawyers said he became suspicious after observing that the movements of some young men from the camp coincided with reports of killings and arson. He allegedly tried to leave but was prevented from doing so and forced to continue working without pay.
After six months, Ozurumba reportedly escaped while on a trip to purchase supplies and returned to Lagos. His lawyers said he subsequently faced beatings and death threats, forcing him to flee to Venezuela, where the threats allegedly continued.
He entered the United States through its southern border in July 2023 and applied for asylum and protection against deportation.
An immigration judge, however, ruled that the Unknown Gunmen constituted a terrorist organisation and that Ozurumba’s work as a cook amounted to material support because preparing meals helped meet the group’s basic needs.
The judge rejected the argument that his alleged captivity and forced labour exempted him from the immigration restrictions, leading to the denial of his applications for protection. Ozurumba was deported to Nigeria in 2025 while his appeal was pending.
Appeal Court Overturns Ruling
In September 2025, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned the immigration judge’s interpretation of the case.
A two-member majority of the three-judge panel ruled that Ozurumba was a captive labourer and that preparing meals for the group did not constitute material support for terrorism.
The appeals court held that his work provided nothing the organisation could use or readily divert to plan or carry out terrorist activities. It ordered a fresh consideration of his asylum case but declined to direct US authorities to return him to the country while the proceedings continued.
The Trump administration subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court through the Justice Department, arguing that providing meals to members of a terrorist organisation constituted material support under US 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 department argued.
It also warned that upholding the lower court’s decision would substantially increase the government’s burden in excluding non-citizens with links to terrorism.
Reacting to the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case, Aimee Mayer-Salins, an attorney with the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, which represents Ozurumba, criticised the government’s interpretation of the law.
She argued that the case raises concerns about whether an overly broad interpretation of immigration law could prevent people seeking asylum from obtaining protection.
Mayer-Salins maintained that the appeals court was right to recognise 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 deliver its ruling by the end of June 2027.