Nimi Wariboko, a professor of social ethics at Boston University, claims that Nigerians who live in Donald Trump’s America are already in awe of the country’s extensive crackdown on illegal immigrants.
On Channels Television’s Friday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political program, the don practically spoke from the US.
“Here, of course, there are a good number of Nigerians that don’t have papers. So there are concerns, Wariboko said as he described the mood of the US’s predominantly Nigerian population just three weeks after Trump’s Oval Office resumed.
“If you are a pastor, if you are a leader in those communities, you are worried for those people, you have concerns for them. Are they going to be deported?
Some of them are hiding; there is a real fear that they might be searched for. If you quarrel with your neighbours, they can call the immigration enforcement unit. That sprinkling of fear is present. They are fearful, they are angry, they don’t know what is going to happen. “
Trump, who became president on January 20, 2025, promised widespread deportation of “criminal aliens” who had illegally entered the country. Already, mass raids have been carried out at homes, schools, workplaces, and shopping centres where undocumented immigrants were picked up and deported to places like India, and , Guatemala, among others.
Trump’s immigration policy has received a variety of positive and negative reviews, with some applauding his actions and others disapproving.
Wariboko claimed that undocumented Nigerian citizens who are on American soil are angry with their countrymen because of their compassion.
” They (undocumented Nigerian immigrants) are saying at the end of the day, if this great replacement holds, they are going to be sent back home. Do you have jobs to absorb them? “
With the proposed revision of the birth citizenship laws, he claimed, “even those with legal papers and US citizenship could still be in danger.”
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$20bn Diaspora Inflow At Risk?
The professor argued that the Nigerian government should be interested in protecting its citizens in the country because Nigerians abroad contribute a lot to the local economy through their significant contributions to immigration policies that could lead to deportation.
Remittance from Nigerians living abroad reached $ 20 billion in 2023, according to the World Bank.
He said, “People in the US send billions of dollars home every year to support the Nigerian economy, to support their families, even if you don’t like us.” Nigeria should be concerned about that because there is money available to support various families, even for the sake of economic interest.
“For many families, if they didn’t have people abroad, in Europe, in Asia, in the United States or Canada, their economic well-being will be below what they have in the country. Therefore, if people are aware that their policies are intended to protect your economic interests, they will also protect your fellow citizens because it serves Nigeria’s national interest.
The government should stand up for Nigerians if anyone in the world proposes policies that will have an impact on the country’s economy.
Trump’s most recent action serves as a reminder of his immigration policies during his first term in office. Nigeria was added by the Trump administration to a list of nations in 2020 whose citizens will be impacted by the country’s inability to enter the country because it violated identity management and information sharing standards.
Approximately 376, 000 Nigerian immigrants live in the United States as of 2015, according to official sources. The main immigration to the United States comes from Nigeria.
Source: Channels TV
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