President Donald Trump has ordered U.S. Commerce Department to conduct a new census excluding undocumented immigrants, raising fears for over 400,000 Nigerians in America.
President Donald Trump has ordered U.S. Commerce Department to conduct a new census excluding undocumented immigrants, raising fears for over 400,000 Nigerians in America. Nigeria has the largest African diaspora population in the U.S.
In a social media post, Trump said the census would be “highly accurate” and based on “modern-day facts,” stressing that “people who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED.” This move contrasts with the U.S. Census Bureau’s 235-year practice of counting all residents regardless of legal status.
Dr. Muda Yusuf, Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, warned the policy could trigger a “very traumatic situation” for undocumented Nigerians. He urged Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and embassy in Washington to arrange voluntary evacuations to avoid arrests and deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Trump previously attempted a similar change in 2019, but the Supreme Court blocked his administration’s bid to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.