Kenyans, particularly those living in the United States without proper documentation, are among imigrants living on the edge amid a crackdown on aliens in the West.
As of Sunday, January 26, 956 people were reported to have been arrested – the highest number since Donald Trump took office as President of the United States for a second term.
Several federal agencies have been involved in the crackdown, which has targeted several cities including Chicago, Newark, and Miami.
You may be wondering what ammunition US immigration officials are using to track down illegal immigrants in the States. As it turns out, enforcement action has been in place in response to a tip reporting unauthorised workers by fellow members of the public.
New US President Donald Trump. PHOTO/ Courtesy.
These tips mainly point immigration agents toward the illegal immigrants’ most frequented places, including their places of work and worship. As a result, migrants have developed a fear of going to work.
One Kenyan, based in Boston Massachusetts, revealed to Kenyans.co.ke that while his family is yet to be visited by immigration officials, every foreign national in the state was living on the edge.
“Some nationals have resorted to staying at home full time out of fear. Officers are closing in on migrants in the most random places, including your workplace,” he said.
He added, “What is concerning is how our lives are now at risk of being uprooted because despite some of us being well documented, our relatives are not.”
A relative of US immigrants also recently spoke to CNN, detailing how their kin, who lived in the United States for nearly three decades, was arrested after agents casually knocked on his door.
Further, immigration agents’ jobs are made much easier when, after acting on a tip-off, they access the suspect alongside their family who may also be undocumented.
Last week, after new US President Donald Trump vowed to deal with the immigration issue during his inaugural address, few expected the action to sweep across all immigrants. During Joe Biden’s tenure, the democrat mostly targeted immigrants who posed a threat to public safety,
Meanwhile, several Kenyans living in the United States have also gone on social media to lament about being reported to immigration, sometimes by their fellow countrymen.
Military aircraft have since started conducting deportation flights, with each flight carrying at least 80 undocumented immigrants out of the US.
US President Donald Trump during a press conference.
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Duke Chronicles