- Safiu Kehinde
The United State Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills Jr., has announced plan by the US government to deport 201 Nigerian migrants to Lagos.
Mills Jr. stated that the first batch of deportees will be majorly Nigerian migrants currently serving prison sentences.
This was disclosed in a post shared on X on Sunday.
The US envoy, as quoted in the post, stated that some of the convicted prisoners are Nigerians who have clearly violated the US immigration laws.
“Those to be repatriated would be dropped in Lagos. There wouldn’t be room for whether it should be in Port Harcourt or Abuja.
“The first group will be convicted prisoners. Those who committed crimes and are in US prisons. Some of them are those who have clearly violated US immigration laws.
“They appealed but were denied yet they are still in the US.
“They have committed immigration crime, people who have been ordered to leave.” Mills said.
While attributing the development to the new administration of President Donald Trump, Mills said that about 85 out of the migrants have been cleared for deportation.
He, however, expressed concern over the impact of the deportation on the Nigerian migrants and their families.
“With the new administration in the US, we want a situation where there will be commitments. If there will be repatriation, we want a dignified return.
“At the moment, we’re told that about 201 Nigerian nationals are in US immigration camps, and about 85 have been cleared for deportation. “Will there be any way of ameliorating their pains?
“This has been of great concern to not just Nigerian nationals in the US but family members in Nigeria who depend on them for survival, children whose school fees are paid for by these diasporans.
“We are asking as a country whether they will be given ample time to handle their assets or will they just be bundled into planes and repatriated? It will really be traumatic especially for those who had not committed any violent crime.” he added.