Yes, Cooking for Terrorists Can Be Material Support
For six months, Izuchukwu Ozurumba cooked three meals a day for the leaders of a Nigerian terrorist group. A federal appeals court held that his work did not amount to material support for the organization. Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to review that decision in Blanche v. Ozurumba.
Ozurumba is a sympathetic litigant. He testified that he did not know whom he was working for when he took the job, and that when he learned the truth and tried to quit, the guards would not let him leave. After about six months, including three without pay, he managed to escape while on a grocery run. He reached the United States in July 2023 and sought asylum. The immigration judge found his testimony generally credible, but immigration authorities denied asylum under the material-support bar. According to his lawyers, he was deported to Nigeria in April 2025, while his appeal was pending. Five months later, a divided Fourth Circuit vacated the removal order and sent the case back for further proceedings.
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