ALL Nigerians entering the United States are mandated to exit the country on the date set by the Department of Homeland Security or risk deportation.
As part of the rule for the US president’s visa ban, Nigeria is among four African countries in January to be included in the infamous Trump travel ban list in a move US officials justified as a necessity due to security reasons.
The US claimed that the countries that made the ban had “gaps in their security measures” surrounding their travel protocols that expose the US to terrorist threats.
Hence in the new rules, the authorities stated that “Upon arrival, in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security will provide you with a mandatory exit date with which you must depart the country,” with the entry stamp clearly stating the dates of admittance, arrival visa classification, and departure date.
“Failure to do so could result in your visa being revoked and, or your deportation from the United States,” read the new visa rule.
However, a CNN analysis based on the claims of US officials revealed that no one born in Nigeria, Myanmar, Tanzania, and Eritrea- among countries also banned- had been responsible for any single terror-related death in America between 1995 to 2017.
In 2019, the Trump administration during the unveiling of its new immigration blueprint said the new plan would serve as a strategy for targeting high skilled well-educated English speaking migrants having job offers that could adapt easily and give back to its host country.
Nonetheless, according to data mined from Migration Policy Institute by the Cable Network, Nigerian immigrants fit the descriptions of Trump’s requirement being one of the most educated groups of immigrants with 59 per cent between the age of 25 and above holders of at least a Bachelors degree.
TRAVEL ALERT! Are you a 🇳🇬Nigerian visiting the 🇺🇸United State of America?
Be aware that @USEmbassyAbuja now issuing new regulations advising that US Homeland Security will provide you with a MANDATORY EXIT DATE by which YOU MUST DEPART the United States of America. Good Luck! pic.twitter.com/swxsQf2kCV
— Káyọ̀dé Ògúndámisí 🇳🇬 (@ogundamisi) February 17, 2020
Academically, this figure is nearly double the proportion for American’s born in the US at 33 per cent, topping the figure for immigrants from South Korea rated 56 per cent, China at 51 per cent and the United States and Germany at 50 and 38 per cent respectively.
The data also showed that a large percentage of Nigerians work high skill jobs with 54 per cent in white-collar positions in the field of science, business and humanities compared to 39 per cent of Americans born in the US.
Economically, the Nigerian immigrants from the African nation in 2018 alone, paid more than 4billion in taxes from an overall income of more than 14 billion dollars.
As Africa’s largest economy, economic and social analysts have condemned the Trump administration’s inclusion of Nigerian on its ban list while some US top officials say the new ban is borne out of religious discrimination than need to maintain national security.