The United States is set to deport 110 Nigerians as part of a broader immigration enforcement operation targeting 355 West African nationals under a new crackdown by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The DHS on Tuesday released a list of individuals marked for deportation under its West Africa Operations Watch (WOW) initiative. The list includes the names and photographs of affected persons across the region.
Nigeria recorded the highest number of nationals slated for deportation, accounting for 110 of the 355 individuals identified by U.S. authorities.
Liberia ranks second with 94 nationals on the list, followed by Ghana with 30. Senegal has 19 citizens affected by the exercise.
Other countries included in the operation are Cameroon with 15 nationals, The Gambia and Côte d’Ivoire with 14 each, Mauritania with 12, Cape Verde with 11, Burkina Faso with nine, Niger with eight, Guinea and Togo with six each, and Mali with five. Benin Republic and Guinea-Bissau each have one citizen listed for deportation.
According to the DHS, the action forms part of ongoing efforts to strengthen immigration enforcement and address violations related to undocumented residency and other immigration offences.
The latest move is expected to have significant implications across West Africa, with Nigeria likely to receive the largest number of returnees once the deportation process begins.
Although U.S. authorities have yet to announce a specific timeline for the removals, the exercise is understood to be part of a wider immigration enforcement strategy being pursued by the U.S. government.
The development comes amid continued tightening of immigration policies and increased scrutiny of undocumented migrants in the United States.
