Supreme Court Takes Asylum Case Over 8,000 Meals Cooked for Nigerian Militant Group
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Oct 16
Supreme Court Takes Asylum Case Over 8,000 Meals Cooked for Nigerian Militant Group
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 16
Summary
The justices agreed to review a Trump administration appeal over whether Izuchukwu Ozurumba’s cooking for the Unknown Gunmen bars him from asylum under the immigration law’s terrorism-related “material support” provision.
A 2-1 Fourth Circuit ruling had thrown out his deportation order, finding that preparing thousands of meals for the group’s leaders did not directly supply resources usable for terrorist operations.
The administration argues that even routine services sustain a terrorist group by freeing members for violence; a dissenting judge said Ozurumba served three meals a day for more than a dozen leaders over months.
Ozurumba says armed guards forced him to work for about six months before he escaped, but the Fourth Circuit did not decide whether support given under duress can qualify for an exception.
The case could widen or narrow asylum bars for immigrants accused of aiding terrorism and will test how much leeway courts have to interpret ambiguous immigration statutes after the Supreme Court ended Chevron deference in 2024.