Here’s number of Ghanaians and Nigerians targeted for US deportation

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Claim: A social media user claimed that 6,200 Ghanaians and 3.7 million Nigerians living in the US are being targeted for deportation.

Verdict: False! According to data from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 3,228 Ghanaians and 3,690 Nigerians are targeted in the ongoing immigration clampdown. 

Full Text

Just a few hours after taking the oath of office as president of the United States of America, President Donald Trump signed six immigration-related executive orders that have dominated global news conversations.  

Key among these orders is an end to birthright citizenship, which is already being challenged in court and a blanket “securing our borders” order which, among other things, directs the arrest, detention and removal of “aliens apprehended on suspicion of violating Federal or State law,” including those already marked for deportation. This order aligns with Trump’s December 2024 vow to commence “the largest deportation operation in American history.”

Since then, several media outlets such as this have reported multiple arrests made in different parts of the US by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

In Ghana, claims that 6,200 Ghanaians living in the US are being targeted for deportation are going viral on various platforms like here, here, here, and here.   

In Nigeria, claims that 3.7 million Nigerians are facing deportation from the US due to Trump’s orders have gone viral, with many users such as here and here amplifying the claim. 

DUBAWA decided to investigate the claims because of the potential to misinform and create panic.

Verification

Various sources, including the Pew Research Center, estimate the number of undocumented immigrants living in the US at 11.7 million. However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) currently targets persons with criminal records. 

Border Czar Tom Homan told ABC News on Sunday,

 “Right now, it’s concentrating on public safety threats and national security threats. That’s a smaller population. So we’re going to do this, on a priority basis. That’s President Trump’s promise. But as that aperture opens, there’ll be more arrests nationwide.”

ICE has, however, mentioned instances of “collateral arrests”-undocumented immigrants who are arrested in the course of operations to arrest illegal immigrants with criminal records. 

In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Fox News, ICE has stated that there are currently 1.4 million noncitizens with non-detained dockets who have final orders of removal. 

Of this number, Ghanaians make up 3,228 and Nigerians 3,690. These numbers are far less than widely shared on social media. 

Mexico (252,044), Guatemala (253,413), Honduras (261,651), and El Salvador (203,822) lead as countries with the highest number of citizens pencilled for deportation. 

The general outlook for Africans due for deportation is indicated in the table below. 

Photo: Unknown source. Image showing the number of non-detained illegal immigrants identified for deportation according to nationalities.

Conclusion

Official data from ICE does not support the claim that over 6,000 Ghanaians and over 3 million Nigerians are being targeted for deportation by the new US government.