The United States will this year deport nearly three times the number of Kenyans deported over the last seven years, Kenyans.co.ke has discovered. The data shows that there are more Kenyans deported from the US than other nationals in East Africa’s neighbours.
However, new reports indicate that some Kenyans may be lucky to escape the mass deportation. According to reporting from NBC News, some of those arrested in the mass deportation plot have already been released back into the United States on a monitoring programme.
While quoting five sources on the matter, the publication revealed that an arrest is not an end in itself. According to a spokesperson from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), federal court cases limit ICE from detaining people indefinitely if their countries refuse to take them back, which can lead ICE to release them.
“The agency’s federal law enforcement officers do everything they can to keep our communities safe,” the spokesperson said, adding, “In some cases, ICE is required to release certain arrested aliens from custody.”
US President Donald Trump signing an Executive Order in the Oval Office, January 20, 2025.
Photo
White House
This might offer a lifeline for some of those caught in the deportation net.
It’s important to note that non-citizens may seek relief from removal through asylum, withholding of removal, or protection under the Convention Against Torture. If granted any of these protections, ICE cannot proceed with their removal.
Our research has discovered that the US deported 68 Kenyans every year on average since 2018. According to numbers from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Report, the US government deported 48 Kenyans last year.
In 2018, 140 Kenyans were deported, while 122 were sent back in 2019, 85 in 2020, 33 in 2021, 24 in 2022, 23 in 2023, and 48 last year. This brings the total number of Kenyans deported in the seven years to 475 people.
Around the East African region, 62 Tanzanians have been deported between 2019 and 2024, while 64 Ugandans have faced the same fate. Across the continent, 902 Nigerians have been deported in the last six years.
As the numbers show, over the last two terms, President Donald Trump deported far fewer people from the United States than his three predecessors: Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.
However, that is likely to change. Already, ICE has identified 1,282 Kenyans among the 1,445,549 non-citizens slated for deportation under President Donald Trump’s renewed immigration policies.
These policies remove individuals residing in the US without legal authorisation or those who have violated immigration laws.
Since President Trump’s return to office, ICE has intensified efforts to detain and deport such individuals, resulting in over 3,500 unauthorised immigrants being arrested across the country. Other African countries with nationals listed for deportation include Somalia (90), Nigeria (3,690), and Ethiopia (1,713).