The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement has expelled 902 Nigerians since the start of fiscal year 2019, according to data from the agency’s 2024 Annual Report.
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deported 902 Nigerians since the beginning of fiscal year 2019, according to figures released in the agency’s 2024 Annual Report.
In addition, 3,690 Nigerians remain in uncertainty, facing removal orders that have yet to be enforced.
Although Nigerian deportations decreased significantly, from 286 in 2019 to 138 in 2024, a drop of 51.7 percent over six years, ICE’s data showed that deportations surged during President Donald Trump’s initial years in office, 2018 and 2019.
Analysts predict a potential rise in 2025, should stricter immigration crackdowns resume.
Among African nations, Nigeria continues to account for the largest number of deportees sent back home from the United States.
Senegal ranks second with 716 removals, including a sharp increase to 410 deportations in 2024 alone. Ghana follows with 582, while Mauritania closely trails at 491 removals.
In particular, removals to Mauritania skyrocketed from 58 in 2023 to 353 in 2024. ICE attributed this dramatic increase to the expanded Electronic Nationality Verification programme, which streamlined identity verification processes.
By allowing consular officers to clear cases electronically instead of in-person, the programme significantly reduced approval times from weeks to days, enabling weekend-chartered deportation flights to countries such as Mauritania, Senegal, and Ghana.
Other African countries reflected in the data include Egypt (467 removals), Somalia (406), Democratic Republic of Congo (395), Liberia (379), Kenya (335), and Guinea (294). Smaller but notable numbers were recorded from Angola (293), Cameroon (288), The Gambia (222), Sierra Leone (165), Morocco (161), and Ethiopia (141), among others.
Outside Africa, the majority of deportations involved countries geographically close to the United States.
Mexico topped the overall deportation list, accounting for 434,827 removals between 2019 and 2024, more than double the figure of any other nationality.
Strong enforcement activities were also recorded in the Northern Triangle countries: Guatemala saw 185,713 deportations, Honduras 142,349, and El Salvador 65,268 during the same period.
Colombia accounted for 30,724 deportations, with Ecuador recording 26,847 due to an uptick in charter flights in 2023. Peru followed with 11,554 returns. Other notable figures included the Dominican Republic (13,904), Nicaragua (13,350), and Venezuela (4,962).
ICE linked these numbers to a combination of increased border encounters and diplomatic efforts in securing travel documents.
Together, these 10 countries made up nearly 75 percent of the 271,484 individuals ICE deported in 2024 — the agency’s busiest year since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
ICE clarified that its removal operations are grounded in the Immigration and Nationality Act, citing reasons such as unlawful entry, visa overstays, fraud, criminal convictions, or national security concerns.
The agency’s operational scope expanded significantly after President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13768 in January 2017, broadening ICE’s authority to target anyone without legal immigration status.
Following that order, ICE arrests surged by 30 percent in 2017, coinciding with a rise in Nigerian deportations.
In 2019, ICE recorded 267,258 deportations, the highest annual figure in nearly a decade, with Nigerian deportations hitting 286.
At that time, Nigeria had the second-highest number of nationals facing deportation across Africa, with 3,690 cases, only behind Somalia’s 4,090.
When President Joe Biden took office in 2021, he directed ICE to prioritize deportations of individuals with serious criminal backgrounds and recent unlawful entrants, resulting in a major reduction in overall deportations.
That year, ICE removals dropped to about 59,000, the lowest in decades and Nigerian deportations fell to just 78.
In 2022, the number declined even further, with only 49 Nigerians deported amid lingering pandemic travel restrictions and cautious immigration enforcement.
However, a Supreme Court decision in July 2024 empowered the Department of Homeland Security to fully implement Biden’s enforcement priorities, focusing on public safety and national security cases.
ICE defines “removal” as the enforced departure of a non-citizen from the United States, following a final order of removal issued either by an immigration judge or administratively, such as through expedited removal processes.
The journey from arrest to deportation typically navigates through a maze of local jails, immigration courts, and diplomatic clearances.
After an order of removal is finalized, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations team is tasked with securing necessary travel documents, completing medical checks, and booking travel — either via commercial flights or, for West African deportations, dedicated charter planes.
According to the agency, innovations like electronic verification have shortened this process significantly, contributing to the record-breaking 2024 removal numbers compared to the preceding pandemic-affected years.
In recent months, ICE agents, acting on Trump’s renewed deportation directives, have carried out raids on several establishments suspected of sheltering undocumented immigrants, leading to multiple arrests.
During a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills Jr., in February, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, expressed Nigeria’s concerns regarding the deportation process.
“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?” she questioned, emphasizing the potential emotional and financial hardships faced by deportees and their families.
She further appealed for a humane and orderly deportation process, especially for those without violent criminal records, arguing that such individuals should not endure traumatic or abrupt repatriations.
Meanwhile, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission affirmed its preparedness to receive deportees.
“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 US,” NiDCOM’s Director of Media and Corporate Affairs, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, stated in an interview.
