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The United States is set to deport 3,690 Nigerians and thousands of other nationalities.
This followed about two million “illegal immigrants” identified by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation from the country.
The deportations come as United States President Donald Trump enforces his crackdown on illegal immigrants in the U.S.
A document released by the ICE showed Nigeria as the country with the second most citizens in Africa, behind Somalia which has 4,090.
Ghana held the third spot with 3,228 illegal immigrants, while Mexico had the highest number of persons recorded for deportation with 252,044.
The United States government, in the document, urged countries to accept the return of their nationals.
The document noted: “Lack of cooperation from the foreign government delays and, in many cases, inhibits the removal process.
“The U.S. Government requests foreign governments take appropriate steps to confirm the citizenship of noncitizens suspected to be their nationals, which include conducting interviews, issuing travel documents in a timely manner, and accepting the physical return of their nationals by scheduled commercial or charter flights consistent with ICE and/or foreign government removal guidelines.
“Lack of cooperation from countries in accepting the return of their nationals may lead to ICE classifying those countries as uncooperative or at-risk of non-compliance.”
On his first day back in office, Trump declared a national emergency at the U.S. southern border and vowed to deport “millions and millions” of migrants.
His administration said it would also reinstate a “Remain in Mexico” policy that prevailed during Trump’s first term, under which people who apply to enter the United States from Mexico must remain there until their application has been decided.
The White House has also halted an asylum programme for people fleeing authoritarian regimes in Central and South America, leaving thousands of people stranded on the Mexican side of the border.
Trump’s office additionally said he had ordered 1,500 more military personnel to the border.
