Nigeria has strongly opposed a move by the United States to deport Venezuelan nationals, including convicted prisoners, to African countries, highlighting growing tensions over the Trump administration’s controversial immigration policy.
In an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar revealed that the U.S. was exerting “considerable pressure” on African nations to receive deportees from across the globe, including individuals of Venezuelan origin. “It will be difficult for Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners,” Tuggar stated firmly, signaling Abuja’s unwillingness to comply with the unusual request.
The U.S. strategy, rooted in the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on undocumented immigration, includes forcibly deporting individuals to third countries even if they have no links there. Hundreds of people, including some who were still awaiting asylum hearings, have been sent to Panama and El Salvador, often under legally contentious circumstances. In several cases, U.S. judges had ordered deportation flights to be turned around, but those orders were ignored, according to reports.
Notably, some deportees have been accused of gang affiliations without due process, and in what appears to be a novel legal maneuver, the Trump administration invoked an 18th-century law to justify their removal.
African countries have become unexpected targets in this policy. South Sudan, a nation still reeling from civil war and economic collapse, has reportedly received third-country nationals deported from the U.S. In the latest diplomatic move, President Trump met with leaders from five West African nations Senegal, Liberia, Mauritania, Gabon, and Guinea-Bissau at the White House this week, reportedly raising the issue of deportations. However, Guinea-Bissau’s president clarified that while the topic was mentioned, there was no direct request to accept immigrants.
Foreign Minister Tuggar also implied that the Trump administration’s threat of tariffs against BRICS countries, of which Nigeria is a member, may be linked to deportation negotiations.
As pressure mounts, Nigeria’s refusal to accept deportees marks a rare moment of resistance against U.S. immigration enforcement practices, raising ethical and legal concerns about forced deportations to unrelated third countries.
