Supreme Court to review Nigerian cook’s asylum case

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review whether cooking meals for the Unknown Gunmen, a group designated by U.S. officials as a terrorist organization, counts as material support under immigration law. The case concerns Nigerian national Izuchukwu Ozurumba, whose asylum claim was denied after he worked at a camp run by the group. The Court has not ruled on the merits. The administration appealed a September 2025 decision by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that Ozurumba’s cooking did not constitute material support. The divided panel described him as a captive laborer, saying his work did not provide the organization with anything it could use or readily divert to plan or carry out terrorist activities. Ozurumba had been deported to Nigeria in 2025 before the Supreme Court took up the case. The appeals court did not order his return to the United States while proceedings continued. The Justice Department argues that providing meals to members of a terrorist organization is material support, comparing it with supplying gasoline for the group’s vehicles.