The United States Supreme Court will hear an appeal by President Donald Trump’s administration seeking to block asylum for Izuchukwu Ozurumba, a Nigerian who says he was forced to cook for the separatist group known as the Unknown Gunmen.
The case centres on whether preparing meals for members of a group classified as a terrorist organisation amounts to providing material support for terrorism under US immigration law.
According to Reuters, the Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to review a September 2025 ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which found that Ozurumba’s work as a cook did not constitute material support for terrorism.
Court documents show that Ozurumba travelled to a remote camp outside Lagos in 2022 after learning about a job opportunity. He reportedly accepted a position as a cook before discovering 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 noticing that the movements of some young men from the camp coincided with reports of killings and arson.
Ozurumba allegedly attempted to leave but was prevented from doing so and forced to continue working without pay.
After six months, he reportedly escaped while on a trip to purchase supplies and returned to Lagos. His lawyers said he subsequently suffered beatings and received death threats, forcing him to flee to Venezuela. The threats allegedly continued there.
In July 2023, he entered the United States through its southern border and applied for asylum and other protections against deportation.
An immigration judge rejected his application, ruling that the Unknown Gunmen constituted a terrorist organisation and that cooking for its members amounted to material support by helping meet their basic needs.
The judge also held that his claim of forced labour did not exempt him from the immigration restrictions. Ozurumba was deported to Nigeria in 2025 while his appeal was still pending.
Trump Administration Challenges Appeal Court Ruling
In September 2025, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the immigration judge’s interpretation of the case.
A majority of the three-member panel ruled that Ozurumba was a captive labourer and that preparing meals for the group did not constitute material support for terrorism.
The court reasoned 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 the government to return him to the United States while the proceedings continued.
Dissatisfied with the decision, the Trump administration approached the Supreme Court through the Justice Department.
The department argued 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 further warned that allowing the appeals court’s ruling to stand 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 an overly broad reading of immigration law could shut the door on people seeking asylum, maintaining that the appeals court correctly recognised that protection 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.