In the 1970s, when Nigeria had its oil boom, over one million Ghanaians moved to supply labour, but when things went south in the 80s, Nigerian government told people from the Black Star republic to pack up and leave.

In the United States of America, president Donald Trump has used immigration crisis as a tool to win votes and the affection of gullible right-wing Americans.

In South Africa, since the resignation of president Thabo Mbeki in 2008, his successors former president Jacob Zuma and incumbent president Cyril Ramaphosa have had a great deal of calls from citizens to enforce tighter immigration policies.

In 2025, Tanzania’s president Samia Suluhu Hassan banned foreign nationals from operating small and medium-scale businesses.

Amongst many other cases of immigration crisis, the above-mentioned play a critical role in shaping the rise of immigration politics in nations that have once stood as the beacon of hope for a united Africa.

It is expected for countries with fast pace and progressive economies to scale up capacity at their borders, to reduce the risk of high influx of migrants who may arrive in the country and live undocumented while chasing greener pastures. But for some reason, it seems countries like Nigeria, United of America, Tanzania and South Africa preferred legislative overhauling to manage the consequences of immigration flops.

Reconstruction of laws and policies amidst rising social tension may sound ideal to a person who lacks the knowledge of the root cause of immigration crisis, but you do not need rocket science to know that someone just left gates unattended.

There is saying that, ‘when two elephants fight, it is the grass the suffers.’ The giants in the room being the politicians and the criminal networks, and the grass being the poor undocumented foreigners and the lower class locals who are competing for common minimum wage roles such as domestic work and farm labour.

While the ruling government must fight illegal immigration to keep its citizens happy and continue to win elections, the criminal underworld is determined to remain benefactors to corrupt officials who create systemic failures.

If government fails to protect menial jobs and small businesses for its citizens, the blame can easily be shifted to underworld employers who hire undocumented foreigners. In politics, this gives room for politicians to promise to new leadership and reforms to voters.

Immigration crisis births an opportunity for leaders to whitewash their rulership. An example is the recent move made by president John Dramani Mahama to repatriate Ghanaian citizens who were not under xenophobic attacks but facing hardship in South Africa due to lack critical skills. The Ghanaian government seizes every opportunity to maintain its status as the most peaceful country in Africa. This move by Ghana will boost its land sale industry and attract more investors.

Back in Ghana, the reality is that the citizens who have been flown back home are only going to join family and friends to continue facing hardships such as unemployment, poor healthcare service, inadequate educational infrastructures and poor road networks.

While the likes of Trump and Hassan want to the make believe that they care about their citizens, it is obvious that that mass deportations and banning foreigners from participating in small businesses have not in any way improve the lives of their citizens.

Some financial experts have noted that it is best make lots of money by charging a reasonable temporary visa fee to document migrants and taxing them, instead of losing money through mass deportations. The fact that the latter has been chosen, it raises serious concerns about the priority of some politicians.

It appears immigration politics is the most common idea on every public relations table right now. If most governments are settling for it, that means it definitely works for them.

The president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa has asked everyone to be calm, and act within the law, while his cabinet continues to put strategies in place to resolve the current immigration crisis in the country.