On March 10, X content creator African Hub shared a video clip of a Nigerian national being questioned at the unnamed airport by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.
African Hub speculated that the border police unfairly targeted the individual, writing:
‘’It seems having a passport and proper documentation at the airport makes people appear [more] suspicious than those crossing in millions on the borders without passports or any sought (sic) of documentation.’’
That is misleading.
While the post received several hundred likes and reports and dozens of thousands of views, it shows the opposite of an unfair targeting by U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel.
African Hub only shared a small part of the video to suit its version of the events.
The video was apparently shot in 2019: it shows a passenger identified as Abdullah telling CBP officers that he’s arrived in the U.S. from Nigeria and is headed to Lake Tahoe, Nevada, to represent “my ministry at the AACE conference 2019.”
The AACE is the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering.
Abdullah tells the officers that he “works as a senior engineer at the Ministry of Petroleum Resource in Nigeria.’’ However, a quick examination of his documentation reveals that his job identification badge “expired last year (2018) a year before he traveled,’ a customs official says, holding the badge up to the camera.
According to the U.S. State Department, anyone attending a conference or seminar must provide a valid invitation letter from the host when applying for a visa.
On March 10, TikTok user Craxywrld0 posted a full version of the video, which included footage revealing that Abdullah was not employed by the Nigerian government.
“You had no idea that we were gonna actually call the Nigerian government to verify if you were a government official, and they stated that they don’t know anything about you or your officers coming,’’ a CBP officer tells Abdullah.
African Hub did not inform its followers that Abdullah had faked the conference invitation letter.
“The immigration officers contacted this convention, they don't know who your team is, you are not registered,” a CBP officer told Abdullah. “So how did you get this letter?’”
Abdullah continued to proclaim his innocence, saying: “I am not lying.... I will never lie in my life.... I can never lie in my life...”
He was denied entry into the United States, with a customs official telling him:
‘’Mr. Abdullah, honestly, I'm sorry, I don't believe you. We find you inadmissible because this letter you are presenting is not real and the visa that you presented will be canceled today.’’
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection website states: “All persons arriving at a port of entry to the United States are subject to inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers.”
The U.S. State Department's website says a visa does not guarantee entry into the United States:
"The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials at the port-of-entry have authority to permit or deny admission to the United States.
Over the last three years, CBP has processed 2.4 million migrants at the southern border, the highest tally the agency has ever recorded. CBP personnel had nearly 250,000 encounters with migrants crossing into the U.S. from Mexico in December 2023, the highest monthly total on record. "
African Hub posted the video as the controversy over large-scale undocumented migration across the U.S. southern border heats up with the approach of the November 2024 U.S. presidential election.
