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Amid the ongoing United States (U.S.) illegal immigrants deportation exercise, the Federal Government has urged the U.S. government to ensure the humane deportation of Nigerians.
U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to deport illegal immigrants. The U.S. government has begun the deportation of undocumented immigrants from Mexico, India, and Colombia.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Ojukwu, disclosed that no fewer than 201 Nigerians in immigration camps in the U.S. will be deported back to Nigeria.
She added that 85 of them have been cleared for deportation.
The U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills Jr., further disclosed that the first batch of deportees are those serving jail terms in U.S. prisons and that they would be taken to Lagos.
“The first group will be convicted prisoners—those who committed crimes and are in U.S. prisons. Some of them are those who have clearly violated U.S. immigration laws.
“They appealed but were denied, yet they are still in the U.S. They have committed an immigration crime—people who have been ordered to leave,” he said.
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Ojukwu has urged the U.S. government to follow stipulated conventions on the deportation of persons.
She also sought the goodwill of the U.S. government in giving the deported immigrants enough time to receive their assets and ameliorate their trauma in the process.
“With the new administration in the U.S., we want a situation where there will be commitments.
“If there will be repatriation, we want a dignified return. Will there be any way of ameliorating their pains?
“This has been of great concern to not just Nigerian nationals in the U.S. but also family members in Nigeria who depend on them for survival—children whose school fees are paid for by these Diasporans.”
