Can cooking for terrorists prevent asylum? Supreme Court considers unusual case with broader immigration stakes

A Nigerian man forced to cook for a terrorist group of unknown gunmen is now at the center of a High Court battle over asylum and material support.

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A Nigerian man forced to cook thousands of meals for unknown gunmen, a militant group linked to political violence in Nigeria, is at the center of a Supreme Court ruling that could determine how far immigration officials can enforce a terrorism-related ban on asylum, and how far the Trump administration can go in deporting immigrants accused of supporting terrorism.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the Trump administration's challenge to a ruling that overturned the deportation of Nigerian citizen Izuchuku Ozorumba, and will hear a legal battle over whether routine services provided to terrorist organizations, including cooking, can disqualify immigrants from asylum, even when those services are not directly related to terrorist attacks.

Ozorumba was deported to Nigeria in April 2025, while his appeal was pending.

At the heart of the case is a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that bars certain immigrants who provide "material support" to terrorist organizations from receiving asylum. The law lists examples of prohibited aid including transportation, communications, housing, money, weapons, and education, but does not explicitly define what constitutes material support.

The case also comes two years after the Supreme Court struck down the Chevron rule, a legal doctrine that required judges to follow federal agencies' reasonable interpretations of vague laws. Ordinance 2024 gave judges more authority to decide the meaning of those laws.

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The Fourth Circuit, in a 2-1 ruling, vacated Ozorumba's deportation order and sent the case back to the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Judge James Wayne Jr., an Obama appointee, wrote the majority opinion and was joined by Judge Nicole Brenner, a Biden appointee. Judges concluded that although Ozorumba prepared thousands of meals for the group's leaders, his cooking did not provide resources that could be directly used or easily diverted to terrorist operations.

Although Ozorumba said he was forced to cook under threat of violence, the Fourth Circuit did not decide whether the statute included an exception for assistance provided under duress — an issue the court had previously addressed in a 2012 ruling that relied on Chevron deference. Instead, the majority found that his cooking for a terrorist organization did not qualify as "material support" that would bar him from asylum, leaving the separate question of coercion unresolved.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has argued that the Fourth Circuit has interpreted the law too narrowly, insisting that even routine services like cooking can help sustain a terrorist organization and free its members to carry out attacks.

"Because he's cooking, one of the armed guards doesn't have to cook and can be an armed guard," Poole said.

"It's a security guard who doesn't have to come illegally to cook meals, or a bomb maker who doesn't have to stop making bombs to cook because all those things are interchangeable," Poole continued.

Ozorumba said he initially agreed to work as a chef in a "village camp," preparing three meals a day for 15 to 17 leaders. He later found out that the camp was owned by "unknown armed men".

An immigration judge found that the unidentified gunmen qualified as a "level three" terrorist organization under federal immigration law, even though the State Department had not formally designated the group as one.

Ozorumba said armed guards stopped him from leaving. According to court records, she cooked for the group's leaders for nearly six months, including three months without pay, then escaped during a trip to town to buy groceries.

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Ozorumba said members of the group of unidentified gunmen continued to threaten and attack him after he fled, prompting him to flee Nigeria to Venezuela and eventually to the United States. In July 2023, during the Biden era, he crossed the southern border without valid entry documents, and surrendered to Border Patrol agents.

An immigration judge denied Ozorumba's asylum application and ordered him deported, a decision upheld by the Board of Immigration Appeals after it found his cooking violated federal material support law. The Fourth Circuit later rejected this interpretation and sent the case back to the Board of Immigration.

Justice Julius Richardson dissented from the majority, arguing in his dissent that cooking thousands of meals for terrorist leaders frees them to focus on their organization's goals and therefore constitutes material support.

"Uzurumba didn't run a hot dog stand that was stopped a time or two by unknown gunmen," Richardson wrote. "Instead, he acted as a private chef, providing three meals a day to more than two dozen leaders of a terrorist organization for months."

Hans von Spakowski, a legal expert at the Advancement of American Freedom, also argued that the majority misinterpreted the law.

"Other federal appellate courts have all held that the provision of food and shelter, even if unrelated to a specific terrorist event, constitutes material protection under the statute," von Spakowski continued. "And doing so under duress, even if true, is not an excuse under the law to avoid removal."

Even if the Supreme Court rules in his favor, a victory would not automatically grant him asylum or guarantee his return to the United States. His case still needs to be reviewed by immigration officials. Radaire IV had previously declined to order the government to extradite him, instead leaving it up to authorities to decide whether his presence in the United States was necessary for further proceedings.

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