30.6.2026
A Nigerian born albino seeking asylum in the USA will be deported to Uganda by the US immigration authorities based on President Donald Trump administration’s crack down on migrants.
Ladidi Shaibu wanted to join her two siblings who are already in the US before Trump introduced his hardline immigration policies. Shaibu and her siblings claimed that being albinos they were target for ritual killings in their community.
Her sister was attacked twice, and her brother was kidnapped as a child by people who wanted to sell his body parts.
Shaibu, 35, entered the US in 2023; while her two siblings were successful in their asylum application, her case according to the US immigration could not be heard. In March 2026 she told by the US Department of Homeland Security she would deported to Uganda where she would be safe.
“I was devastated and shocked when the judge denied my case,” says Shaibu. “All the evidence was there – my siblings were attacked in Nigeria.
“In Uganda the same thing happens, they take people for [witchcraft] rituals and everything. I don’t know what else they needed for me to show them that I have a legitimate case.”
Shaibu’s lawyer, Ravindar Arora, who also represented her two siblings, calls the decision to deny her asylum “ridiculous”.
“Having worked as an immigration lawyer in the US for 15 years, I’ve got a good sense of what is a winnable asylum claim and what’s not,” he says. “This should have been a slam dunk.”
Albinism is an inherited genetic condition that reduces the amount of melanin pigment formed in the skin, hair and eyes. It occurs in all ethnic groups throughout the world. In sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of albinism is the highest worldwide, and it affects more than one in 4,000 people in some countries, according to the World Health Organization.
In countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria and Uganda, people with albinism face severe threats, including ritual killings, rape and mutilation. These attacks are driven by harmful superstitions that their body parts bring wealth, political success and good luck. With Guardian reports