The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a major immigration case involving Nigerian asylum seeker Izuchukwu Ozurumba, whose application for protection was initially rejected over allegations that his work as a cook for a separatist group in Nigeria amounted to providing “material support” to a terrorist organisation.
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The dispute centres on whether services allegedly performed under circumstances amounting to captive labour can legally be treated as material support for terrorism under U.S. immigration law, thereby disqualifying an asylum seeker from certain forms of protection.
Ozurumba reportedly left Lagos in 2022 to work as a cook at a camp operated by the separatist group, initially unaware of its alleged involvement in violent activities.
According to his account, he later became suspicious after noticing that the movements of some young men from the camp appeared to coincide with reports of killings and arson in surrounding areas.
He remained at the camp for about six months before fleeing and eventually making his way to the United States, where he entered through the southern border in July 2023.
Ozurumba subsequently applied for asylum and other forms of protection against deportation, but U.S. immigration authorities argued that by cooking for members of the group, he had provided material support to an organisation linked to terrorism.
That finding threatened his eligibility for asylum under U.S. immigration laws, which contain restrictions against granting certain immigration benefits to persons found to have provided material support to designated or qualifying terrorist organisations.
Ozurumba, however, maintained that his cooking activities should not be treated as voluntary support for terrorism because of the circumstances under which he worked at the camp.
His case eventually reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia, which ruled in his favour in September 2025.
The appellate court found that Ozurumba had been subjected to captive labour and held that, in the circumstances of his case, his cooking services did not amount to material support for terrorism.
The administration of President Donald Trump subsequently asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review that decision.
The Supreme Court has now agreed to hear the government’s appeal, placing before the country’s highest court the question of how broadly the material-support restriction should apply to asylum seekers who claim that services rendered to violent organisations were involuntary or performed under coercive circumstances.
The case could have consequences beyond Ozurumba’s individual asylum claim, particularly for migrants who say they were forced, coerced or otherwise compelled to provide labour or services to armed organisations before fleeing their countries.
A ruling in favour of the government could strengthen the application of the material-support bar in immigration proceedings, while the legal question before the court will also determine the extent to which the circumstances surrounding an asylum seeker’s alleged assistance must be considered.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in the case and deliver its decision by the end of June 2027.
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