Norton, Clarke, Veasey Lead 23 Members of Congress Calling for Temporary Protected Status for Nigeria

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After more than 100 deaths due to recent election-related violence in Nigeria, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY), and Congressman Marc Veasey (D-TX) led 23 members of Congress in urging Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to designate the country for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). TPS designation would allow Nigerian nationals in the U.S. to temporarily remain instead of returning to Nigeria amid the country’s ongoing armed conflict.

“The scale and geographic extent of insecurity in Nigeria is unprecedented in the country’s history,” the members wrote. “Nigeria’s ongoing armed conflict has had a dramatic human cost. Estimates suggest the presence of between 3.1 million and 3.3 million internally displaced persons in Nigeria.”

The full letter follows.

May 9, 2023

The Honorable Alejandro N. Mayorkas

Secretary

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

301 7th Street SW

Washington, D.C. 20528

Dear Secretary Mayorkas:

We write to request that you protect Nigerian nationals currently in the United States by designating Nigeria for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

Federal law provides authority to designate TPS in the case of ongoing armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions.  Specifically, the Immigration and Nationality Act provides discretionary authority to grant TPS when “there is an ongoing armed conflict within the state and, due to such conflict, requiring the return of aliens who are nationals of that state to that state (or to the part of the state) would pose a serious threat to their personal safety,” or when “there exist extraordinary and temporary conditions in the foreign state that prevent aliens who are nationals of the state from returning to the state in safety.”  Nigeria meets both the armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions frameworks for TPS designation.

At present, Nigeria is facing an extraordinary level of insecurity in terms of the extent and protractedness of armed conflict.  Ongoing armed conflict in Nigeria includes violent extremist insurgency in the northeast region by the terrorist groups Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa, intense gang fighting, violence between farmers and herders and an emergent separatist insurgency movement known as the Indigenous People of Biafra in the southeast region.  This armed conflict has recently escalated.  Kidnapping and criminality have increased, often fueled by religious and intercommunal polarization.  According to the Centre for Democracy and Development, 109 people were killed amid recent election-related violence in February and March of this year.

The scale and geographic extent of insecurity in Nigeria is unprecedented in the country’s history.  Military operations are underway against insurgencies nationwide, and military forces have been deployed in each of Nigeria’s 36 states to support internal security. 

Nigeria’s ongoing armed conflict has had a dramatic human cost.  Estimates suggest the presence of between 3.1 million and 3.3 million internally displaced persons in Nigeria.  This does not include an additional 2.1 million “returnees,” formerly displaced people who have returned to their home areas but may not be fully resettled.  An additional 336,900 individuals are refugees—that is, displaced outside of Nigeria (mostly in neighboring Niger and Chad).  Of particular concern, thousands of children in Nigeria have recently been kidnapped, forcibly recruited, injured or killed by Boko Haram and other terrorist groups. 

The White House has acknowledged the armed conflict and humanitarian crisis in Nigeria, and the State Department has urged travelers to reconsider travel to Nigeria due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest and kidnapping.  We urge you to designate Nigeria for Temporary Protected Status. 

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Eleanor Holmes Norton

Yvette D. Clarke

Marc A. Veasey

Earl Blumenauer

Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D.

Cori Bush

André Carson

Greg Casar

Judy Chu

Dwight Evans

Valerie P. Foushee

Maxwell Alejandro Frost

Sylvia R. Garcia

Jesús G. “Chuy” García

Glenn Ivey

Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr.

Barbara Lee

James P. McGovern

Grace Meng

Delia C. Ramirez

C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger

Bonnie Watson Coleman

Frederica S. Wilson

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