US high court to decide if cooking qualifies as terror support

The Supreme Court of the United States has agreed to decide whether preparing meals for members of a Nigerian separatist group constitutes providing material support for terrorism. The conservative-majority Court will consider the Trump administration's appeal to reinstate a ruling that denied asylum to a Nigerian man deported for this alleged support.

The case, involving Izuchukwu Ozurumba, will be heard during the Court's current term, which began on October 5 and concludes by late June. The implications of the ruling could be significant for asylum seekers, hinging on how the nine justices – six conservatives and three liberals – interpret the concept of material support.

Ozurumba, who claims he was compelled to cook for a separatist group's camp in southern Nigeria for six months starting in 2022, later fled to Venezuela and crossed the US-Mexico border illegally in summer 2023. In 2024, an immigration judge denied his asylum claim and ordered his deportation under a provision of US law that prohibits foreign nationals from receiving asylum if they provide material support to a terrorist organization.

This decision was upheld on appeal, and Ozurumba was deported to Nigeria in April 2025. However, a federal appeals court later overturned these decisions and sent the case back to the immigration court for further review.

The appeals court ruled that cooking meals with food and supplies provided by the organization could be considered sustaining the group, but it did not equate to providing material support for terrorism, as the organization could not readily divert the assistance to its terrorist activities. The Trump administration is requesting the Supreme Court to overturn this appeals court ruling as part of its broader deportation efforts of undocumented immigrants.