The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether support given to a terrorist organization must advance its actual commission of terrorism before it triggers a statutory bar to immigration benefits.
The justices granted review on October 13 in Blanche v Ozurumba, accepting the government’s challenge to a Fourth Circuit decision. The order is not a ruling denying asylum or approving the lower court’s interpretation.
Izuchukwu Ozurumba, a Nigerian citizen, was denied asylum and withholding of removal after immigration authorities treated his work preparing meals for a group’s leaders as material support. The appellate opinion describes that work as forced.
In September 2025, the Fourth Circuit vacated the immigration board’s order and sent the matter back, concluding that the record did not establish material support. That earlier judgment supplies the background; Tuesday’s grant is the new development.
The question now before the Supreme Court concerns the reach of the statutory bar, not a general ruling that everyone coerced into helping an armed group qualifies for asylum. The Court has not resolved the merits.
Official Supreme Court docket.
