- Safiu Kehinde
A United States-based Nigerian woman has decried the killings of migrants and non-migrants by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as she urged President Donald Trump to give immigrants time to leave the country.
The woman made the plea in a video shared on X on Tuesday.
She decried the ordeal of immigrants in the US while reacting to the recent killing of an American nurse, Alex Pretti, who was shot dead at close range by Federal Agents in Minnesota.
“If you want the immigrants to leave America, tell us. Just come out and say that all immigrants we want you out, whether you are criminal or you are not criminal because these don’t even care who you are.
“There are lots of citizens that they are traumatising and treating like animals and these people will even be telling them we are citizens. But they don’t care.
“I was so sad yesterday when I saw a video that my son sent to me, a teenager. I felt like going to school and tell my son we need to go back to Nigeria.” She said.
While, noting the significance of immigrants in the US, the visibly emotional Nigerian woman urged Trump to give them one year ultimatum to leave the country.
“The works that the immigrants are doing, your people cannot do them. There are lots of people in nursing home with nobody to take care of them and you are traumatising, killing people on the street on a broad daylight.
“President Trump, tell us and we will leave. But please give us time. At least give us one year and let us gather ourselves together.
“There is no ICE video that I’ve watched where they speak to people gently. They just feel like these people are animals, let us treat them as one.
“Trump you are human being too. You have family. You have children.
“All the fourth amendments, they are just putting their hands in it. They don’t care.
“They don’t know old, they don’t know young. They know woman, they don’t know man.
“They are just treating people like they are piece of trash. We have been in this country for a very long time. We cannot just leave like that. Give us time.
“We will leave your country for you. We will gather our children and family members. Enough is enough because if you think you are not concerned with this ICE situation, it is coming to you. Every immigrant as a black, as a Spanish, everybody will have a taste of them.
“I am very sure. Everybody is living in fear. Everybody is living in agony. This nurse that they killed, they killed him on a broad daylight on a busy road.
“The only sin that we committed is that we came to America. We said we are looking for a greener pasture. Our greener pasture has turned to black right in front of us.
“President Trump, give us time, we will live. How many years have you spent? Only one year and everybody is leaving in fear like this.
“How many years more? Three years before you kill everybody. Mother will leave the house; they will not be able to return. Children will leave house; they will not be able to return because ICE has killed them.
“ICE are going to people’s house to pick them.
“How long are we going to live like this? President Trump, give us time. We will all leave America if that is the way you want it.
“We will leave your country for you and your mothers and fathers that are in nursing homes, your mentally challenged individuals that are in nursing homes, let’s see who is going to take care of them.
“They will all rot. No problem we will leave. Thank God we still have our country.
“Whether our country is bad or not bad, people are there. They are surviving. The fear is not this much. The fear in Nigeria is not this much. Enough is enough. Give us time. One year and let us gather ourselves together.
“Let us gather all the money we have made. Let us pack ourselves. Let us be able to ship all our belongings back home. Let us be able to sell our houses and cars.
“It is time to return. That is what you are telling us invariably.
“I have a girl who works in my shop. She cannot come to work just because of ICE.” She said.