The US embassy in Nigeria said Wednesday that Nigerians were welcome to travel to the United States following confusion over President Donald Trump’s new immigration rules.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, on Monday warned citizens against non-essential travel to the United States, as some Nigerians were allegedly denied entry at the border.
“The US embassy in Abuja wishes to clarify that there is no reason for Nigerians with valid visas to postpone or cancel their travel to the United States,” said the embassy in a statement.
“There is no prohibition against Nigerian lawful permanent residents or persons with a valid visa or other US government authorisation from entering the United States.”
Trump signed a revised ban on refugees and on travellers from six Muslim-majority nations on Monday.
Nigeria is not on the list.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, told a news conference it was “business as usual” with the United States, despite the earlier advisory from Dabiri-Erewa.
“No Nigerian with valid US visa were turned back,” Onyeama said.
Of the 2.1 million African immigrants living in the United States in 2015, 327,000 were born in Nigeria, according to data from the Pew Research Center, published in February.
