Nimi Wariboko, a Professor of Social Ethics at the Boston University, United States, has expressed concerns over the widespread fear among Nigerians in the United States following President Donald Trump’s intensified crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Speaking virtually on Inside Sources, a programme on Channels Television, Wariboko noted that many Nigerians without legal status are deeply anxious about their fate under Trump’s second-term policies.
“Here, of course, there are a good number of Nigerians that don’t have papers. So, they are worrying,” he said, describing the tense atmosphere in Nigerian communities.
“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 that palpable fear that they could be raided. If you quarrel with your neighbours, they can call the immigration enforcement unit.
There is that palpable fear. They are fearful, they are angry, they don’t know what is going to happen.”
Trump, who began his second term on January 20, 2025, has pledged mass deportation of “criminal aliens.”
Immigration raids have already taken place in homes, schools, workplaces, and shopping centres, with undocumented immigrants sent back to countries including India and Guatemala.
The immigration crackdown has sparked mixed reactions, with some supporting the move while others criticise it.
Wariboko noted that undocumented Nigerians in the US feel abandoned by their compatriots back home.
“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?”
He further warned that “even those with legal papers and have acquired US citizenship could still be in jeopardy” due to the proposed reversal of birthright citizenship laws.
Wariboko stressed that the Nigerian government should intervene, as the deportation of Nigerians from the US would have significant economic consequences.
“They are saying even if you don’t like us, people in the US send billions of dollars home every year to sustain the Nigerian economy, to sustain their families. Even for the sake of economic interest, Nigeria should care about that because there is money that comes from here to sustain different families.
“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.
So, if people know that policies are about defending your economic interest, then they will be defending their fellow citizens because it is in the national interest of Nigeria.
“If anybody in the world is coming up with policies that will affect the Nigerian economy, the government should defend Nigerians in that regard.”
Trump’s stance on immigration mirrors his previous term’s policies. In 2020, his administration added Nigeria to a list of countries facing US entry restrictions due to non-compliance with identity management and information-sharing standards.
According to official data, approximately 376,000 Nigerians lived in the US as of 2015, making Nigeria the largest source of African immigrants to America.
The US remains a key destination for Nigerian migrants seeking better opportunities, with the Nigerian diaspora contributing over $20 billion annually to Nigeria’s economy, based on 2023 World Bank figures.