From NBC News · Lawrence Hurley · · 1m 40s
Supreme Court to rule on cooking as terrorism support
The justices will decide whether providing meals to a separatist group bars someone from U.S. asylum.
In brief
The justices will decide whether providing meals to a separatist group bars someone from U.S. asylum. The Supreme Court agreed to hear whether a Nigerian man who cooked for a separatist group can be denied asylum under U.S. terrorism law. Originally reported by NBC News.
Supreme Court takes asylum case
The Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear the Trump administration's challenge to deny asylum to Izuchukwu Ozurumba, a Nigerian man accused of providing material support to terrorists.
The job he didn't know about
Ozurumba took a job as a camp cook in two thousand twenty-two, only discovering later that the Unknown Gunmen, a separatist group, ran the camp. He worked there for about six months, half unpaid.
He fled and sought asylum
After escaping the camp, Ozurumba crossed the southern border in July two thousand twenty-three and sought U.S. asylum, claiming Unknown Gunmen members had threatened to kill him.
Immigration judge rejected his claim
An immigration judge initially rejected Ozurumba's asylum claim, finding that cooking three meals a day constituted material support to the Unknown Gunmen under immigration law.
Appeals court reversed the decision
Ozurumba was deported in April two thousand twenty-five, but five months later the Richmond, Virginia-based Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in his favor, saying cooking did not qualify as material support.
What the court will decide
The Supreme Court will hear arguments and issue a ruling later in the court term, which runs until June. The justices will also decide whether to hear the Trump administration's appeal on broader asylum restrictions.
At a glance
The Supreme Court agreed to hear whether a Nigerian man who cooked for a separatist group can be denied asylum under U.S. terrorism law.
