US Court to Decide if Cooking Aids Terrorism

The conservative-majority US Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to consider the Trump administration’s petition to reinstate a deportation order against Izuchukwu Ozurumba, a Nigerian man denied asylum for allegedly providing material support to a separatist group.

Ozurumba states that a Nigerian separatist militia held him captive and forced him to cook at their camp for six months in 2022 before he escaped, travelled through Venezuela, and crossed the US-Mexico border in mid-2023.

A US immigration judge initially denied Ozurumba’s asylum application in 2024, citing federal immigration statutes that bar individuals who offer material support to terrorist organisations from receiving protection.

US authorities deported Ozurumba to Nigeria in April 2025 following an unsuccessful initial appeal.

However, a federal appeals court subsequently overturned the deportation ruling, finding that forced cooking using group-supplied food constituted captive labour rather than actionable assistance for terrorist acts.

The Trump administration is now asking the Supreme Court to overturn the appellate decision as part of its broader campaign to expand undocumented immigrant deportations.

The nine justices will hear arguments during their current term ending in late June, setting a precedent that could broadly redefine the legal boundaries of “material support” for future asylum seekers nationwide.