• Convicts among first batch of 85 on way to Lagos
• Envoy: Drop Box Policy not suspended

No fewer than 201 Nigerians are in the immigration camps set to be deported home from the United States (U.S.) in line with President Donald Trump’s immigration policy.

Eighty-five of them have been cleared for immediate eviction from the country.

According to the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Richard Mills Jr., among the first batch of deportees are those serving jail terms in U.S. prisons.

The envoy said the deportees would be taken to Lagos but did not indicate when.

He spoke during a meeting with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, at her office.

The U.S. President has been fulfilling his campaign promise to deport illegal immigrants.

He has deported citizens of countries such as Colombia, Mexico and India, among others as he aggressively pursues his policy of getting out undocumented immigrants.

According to a statement by Mrs Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s media aide Magnus Eze, the envoy said: “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 U.S. prisons.

“Some of them are those who have clearly violated U.S. immigration laws.

“They appealed but were denied yet they are still in the U.S. They have committed immigration crime.”

The minister pleaded for dignified treatment for Nigerians to be deported.

This is in view of the fact that many of those convicts being deported from the U.S. are manacled – with handcuffs on their hands and legs.

Mrs Odumegwu-Ojukwu insisted that the U.S. government must follow the laid down conventions on the deportation of persons in repatriating immigrants.

The minister urged the U.S. to find a way of ameliorating the trauma of those to be deported, including allowing them ample opportunity to retrieve their assets in America.

Mrs Odumegwu-Ojukwu bemoaned the emotional and financial pains that many Nigerians in the U.S. were already experiencing since the Trump Administration announced the plans.

She stated that the effect was far-reaching even to the hinterlands of Nigeria where for instance, several families, including children relied on remittances from the U.S. for their survival and education.

Mrs Odumegwu-Ojukwu said: “With the new administration in the U.S., 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 have not committed any violent crime”.

The U.S. envoy also spoke on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

“I think this (Trump) Administration will concentrate more on trade and commerce.

“This relationship is strong and we want it sustained,” he said.

Mrs Odumegwu-Ojukwu expressed concern over the likely suspension of the Drop Box Visa System by the U.S. government.

The minister urged Washington DC to reconsider the suspension of the policy such that Nigerians who had been travelling to the US for genuine reasons would not have to suffer unduly in procuring U.S. visa.

She urged the U.S. government to issue a statement clarifying its actual position on the Drop Box system to assuage the concerns of anxious Nigerians.

The minister said that about 14,000 Nigerians are students in the U.S., with parents living in Nigeria.

These parents, she said, were worried whether there would be any change in student policy by the new U.S. administration.

Expressing concern over the future of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Mrs. Odumegwu-Ojukwu said: “We can’t say whether it’s outright suspension. A lot of NGOs are worried and waiting for clarification.

“We will just make that appeal on behalf of the NGOs in Nigeria.

“Even less than a month into the 90-day review, there have been concerns.

“I know before the completion of the review, there’s already humanitarian issues in Nigeria and Africa.

“We will appeal that this initiative be preserved.

“Even if it’s abrogated as an agency, there must be a way of keeping the ideals to ensure that the poor beneficiaries in the communities, not just in Nigeria but Africa, are not abandoned.”

The minister further called for the injection of more impetus in the bilateral relations between Abuja and Washington DC.

Noting that Nigeria and the US had not done well in the area of trade, especially post-COVID-19, she called for investments in the mining sector. According to her, diversification of investments would boost exports to the U.S.

The minister called for the reactivation of the ‘Silent Secretariat’ where the two countries assessed their bilateral relations.

She explained that the foreign policy of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration, which focuses on democracy, development, demography and diaspora (4-Ds) was on course.

She restated the government’s commitment to citizen diplomacy.

She said: “One other area is not just diaspora but diplomacy, people-to-people contacts.

“So, the issue of illegal migration is there but the current administration is determined about citizen diplomacy.

“We want to know how our people in the diaspora are doing.

“We have some of them in prisons abroad. The administration is concerned about their welfare.”

She said that Nigeria needed strategic partnerships to tackle the demographic issue of unemployment which triggers illegal migration known as Japa syndrome in Nigerian parlance.

She said it was in line with the 4-Ds foreign policy of Nigeria that despite the Sahel crisis, the free movement policy of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was still in place.

“ECOWAS has been at its best, so, one has to appreciate that even with the exit of these states, free movement within the region is still there.

“The immigration has not closed the borders,” the minister said.

The U.S. envoy said he looked forward that the bilateral relations between both countries will get quite broader.

Drop Box Policy not suspended

According to Mills, the Drop Box Visa Policy had not been suspended.

The envoy explained: “Whenever there is a change in administration, policies are renewed.”

He assured that the position of the new US Government on the USAID, Drop Box Visa system and others, would be known in due course.

He acknowledged that the USAID did some specific things, particularly life-saving in the health sector, and humanitarian issues like mother-child.

“Some of these NGOs are feeling the pains, but the situation is being reviewed,” Mills said.

The envoy expressed concerns over democracy in Africa, noting the exit of three Sahel states from ECOWAS as well as the challenge of counter-terrorism.

SOURCE