Despite a drop in the number of Nigerians deported from the United States over the past six years, nearly 3,700 Nigerians remain under threat of removal, fresh data from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has shown.
According to the agency’s 2024 Annual Report, a total of 902 Nigerians have been expelled since the start of the 2019 fiscal year, while 3,690 others linger with deportation orders hanging over them.
Although removals fell from 286 in 2019 to 138 in 2024, marking a 51.7 per cent decline. ICE’s figures revealed that deportations spiked sharply during former President Donald Trump’s first two full years in office, and analysts warn that numbers may rise again in 2025 following a renewed immigration crackdown.
Nigeria remains the African country with the highest number of deportations from the United States. Senegal followed with 716 removals, 410 of which occurred in 2024 alone. Ghana placed third with 582 removals, while Mauritania followed closely with 491. Notably, deportations to Mauritania surged from 58 in 2023 to 353 in 2024.
ICE attributed the spike to the expansion of its Electronic Nationality Verification (ENV) programme, which allowed consular officers to confirm identities electronically, significantly cutting processing times. The agency noted that the ENV “shortened manifest approval from weeks to days” and enabled weekend-chartered flights to countries including Mauritania, Senegal, and Ghana.
Other African countries with significant deportation numbers include Egypt (467), Somalia (406), Democratic Republic of Congo (395), Liberia (379), Kenya (335), and Guinea (294). Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Morocco, and Ethiopia also featured with smaller caseloads.
Outside Africa, America’s neighbouring countries accounted for the highest removals. Mexico topped the deportation chart with 434,827 removals between 2019 and 2024, more than double that of any other nationality. Guatemala recorded 185,713 expulsions, Honduras 142,349, and El Salvador 65,268 within the same period.
Colombia (30,724), Ecuador (26,847), Dominican Republic (13,904), Nicaragua (13,350), and Venezuela (4,962) also saw significant numbers. Together, these 10 countries represented nearly three-quarters of the 271,484 deportations recorded by ICE in 2024, the agency’s busiest year since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agency said legal backing for removals rests on the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, which authorises expulsions for unlawful entry, visa overstay, fraud, criminal convictions, and national security concerns.
Deportations ramped up sharply after President Trump signed Executive Order 13768 in January 2017, which broadened ICE’s enforcement scope to cover virtually anyone without lawful immigration status. That year, ICE arrests jumped by 30 per cent, and Nigerian removals rose accordingly.
In 2019, ICE recorded its highest number of removals in nearly a decade, 267,258 — with Nigerian deportations peaking at 286. By late 2020, Nigerians comprised the second-largest African group facing deportation after Somalis.
However, deportation numbers fell under President Joe Biden’s administration after he directed ICE to prioritise recent arrivals and individuals with serious criminal records for removal. As a result, total deportations dropped to about 59,000 in 2021, the lowest in decades and Nigerian removals fell to 78 that year. The figure dipped even further to 49 in 2022 amid COVID-19 travel restrictions and a cautious immigration policy.
But a Supreme Court ruling in July 2024 allowed the Department of Homeland Security to fully reinstate Biden’s enforcement guidelines, focusing on national security and public safety, contributing to the sharp increase seen in 2024.
Speaking on the recent wave of deportations, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, urged the U.S. government to handle the process humanely.
“We are asking as a country whether they will be given ample time to handle their assets or will they just be bundled into planes and repatriated?” Odumegwu-Ojukwu queried during a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills Jr., in February. She expressed concerns over the emotional and financial toll on deportees and their families, stressing that individuals with no record of violent crimes should not face abrupt or traumatic deportations.
Meanwhile, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) said it was prepared to support deported Nigerians upon their return.
“The Federal Government has set up an inter-agency committee, comprising the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NiDCOM, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Office of the National Security Adviser, should there be mass deportation of Nigerians from the U.S.,” said NiDCOM’s Director of Media and Corporate Affairs, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, in an interview.
ICE clarified that removal operations often involve a complex process spanning local jails, immigration courts, and consular verifications. Once a removal order becomes final, ICE must secure travel documents, conduct medical screenings, and arrange commercial or charter flights — with charter flights more common for returns to West Africa.
The agency said that the expansion of electronic verification helped streamline the process, reducing delays that previously slowed down deportations, especially during the pandemic years.
