The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear the Trump administration's bid to deny asylum to a Nigerian man who officials say gave material support to terrorists by cooking for them, NBC News and Fox News reported.

The case involves Izuchukwu Ozurumba and a provision of immigration law that bars people who have "engaged in terrorist activity," which includes providing material support, NBC reported. Fox News reported that the law lists examples such as transportation, housing, money and weapons but does not define what counts as material support.

Ozurumba says he took a job as a camp cook in 2022 before he learned the camp was run by a separatist group called the Unknown Gunmen, NBC reported. He worked there for about six months, half of it unpaid, before he escaped, the outlets reported. Fox News said he cooked three meals a day for 15 to 17 leaders and has said armed guards kept him from leaving.

He crossed the southern border in July 2023 and sought asylum, the outlets reported. An immigration judge ruled that his cooking was material support, and he was deported in April 2025 while his case continued, NBC said. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later ruled that cooking did not qualify, the outlets reported.

Aimee Mayer-Salins of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, who represents Ozurumba, told NBC that the government's broad reading would make it "very hard for people fleeing persecution to seek safety in the United States." She said he is in hiding, NBC reported.

Bryce Poole, a senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, told Fox News Digital that the case is about "who gets to draw the line on a law that affects national security." The administration argues that even ordinary services such as cooking can help sustain a terrorist group, Fox reported.

A win for Ozurumba would not automatically grant him asylum or bring him back to the U.S., Fox News reported. The justices will hear arguments and rule later in the term, which runs until June, NBC said.

What we know: The court will decide whether cooking for a militant group counts as material support that bars asylum.
What we don't: When arguments will be held and how the justices will rule.