Kenya Insights

Tag: mass deportations

  • Kenyans Living In The Are US Snitching On Each Other Amid Deportation Fears, Fueled by False Rumors of Cash Rewards

    Kenyans Living In The Are US Snitching On Each Other Amid Deportation Fears, Fueled by False Rumors of Cash Rewards

    Kenyans living in the United States have reportedly begun snitching on each other to immigration authorities, driven by unfounded rumors of cash rewards for snitching on undocumented immigrants.

    This wave of betrayal has emerged amid heightened fears of deportation following former President Donald Trump’s executive orders on mass deportations and funding cuts to critical health programs with America’s withdrawal from WHO.

    Over the past few weeks, social media platforms, particularly TikTok, have been rife with claims that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is offering $750 (approximately Sh96,900) for tips leading to the arrest and deportation of undocumented immigrants.

    These rumors, however, have been denied by ICE, which issued a statement clarifying that no such rewards exist.

    “Contrary to rumors, ICE is not giving a $750 reward for tips in support of civil immigration enforcement objectives. Targeted enforcement operations are planned arrests of known criminal aliens who threaten national security or public safety,” the agency stated.

    Despite this official clarification, the false narrative has gained traction, leading to a disturbing rise in Kenyans reporting their compatriots to immigration authorities.

    On TikTok, users have shared stories of individuals calling ICE on fellow Kenyans, resulting in arrests and deportations. One user, Obidan Dela, claimed that two Kenyan women were arrested after a fellow Kenyan reported them using a toll-free number provided by ICE.

    “Instead of helping each other by being each other’s keeper, some are reporting their own people to the authorities. It’s unfortunate,” Dela lamented.

    Malcom, a popular Kenyan TikToker living in the U.S. also exposed a similar case where a Kenyan man reported two of his former lovers all from Kenya without proper documentation to the authorities.

    The situation has sparked outrage and division within the Kenyan diaspora. While some have resorted to snitching, others have taken to social media to offer advice on how to avoid detection by ICE officials. The community, once united by shared struggles, now finds itself fractured by fear and mistrust.

    Nancy Githoitho, a Trump supporter based in San Francisco, offered a different perspective. She suggested that some Kenyans may be reporting exploitative employers or individuals who have held their compatriots hostage by confiscating passports and forcing them into labor.

    “Some could be utilizing the toll number to help those being enslaved return to their country, but the agency is not rewarding anyone,” Githoitho said. She also noted that Trump’s policies have inadvertently freed some Kenyan women from abusive relationships, allowing them to reconnect with their families back home.

    ICE’s enforcement efforts are part of a broader crackdown on undocumented immigrants, targeting an estimated 11 million individuals without legal status in the U.S. Among those on the deportation list are 1,282 Kenyans, alongside nationals from 186 other countries. African nations prominently featured on the list include Nigeria (3,690), Somalia (4,090), and Ethiopia (1,713).

    Kenyan Ambassador to the U.S. David Kerich acknowledged the challenges faced by undocumented Kenyans but emphasized that panic is counterproductive. He urged those affected to seek legal assistance, particularly from immigration lawyers who can help navigate the complex documentation process.

    “The biggest problem is that undocumented Kenyans do not come forward, even during registration drives. My advice is to remain calm and seek professional help. Those without criminal records may still have options,” Kerich said.

    Kerich said there were at least 250,000 Kenyans, while data from World Population Review estimated that by last year, many were concentrated in Minnesota, making up 0.12 per cent of the state’s population.

    Although there are claims that there could be about 40,000 Kenyans living in the US illegally, Ambassador Kerich said there are no official records indicating the same.

    The ambassador also highlighted the importance of presenting compelling cases to immigration authorities, such as demonstrating the impact of deportation on U.S. citizen family members.

    Meanwhile, the broader implications of Trump’s policies continue to reverberate both domestically and internationally. Dr. Saisi Marasa, President of the Kenya Diaspora Alliance, warned that the freeze on federal funding for programs like PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) could have devastating effects on sub-Saharan Africa, where millions depend on U.S. aid for life-saving treatments.

    “Perhaps it’s time for Africa to wean itself off these programs and develop homegrown solutions,” Marasa said.

    Former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta echoed this sentiment during the East Africa Region Global Health Security Summit 2025 in Mombasa, calling Trump’s funding cuts a “wake-up call” for African nations to become self-reliant.

    “Why are we crying? It’s not our government, not our country, and they have no obligation to give us anything. This is a wake-up call to support ourselves instead of relying on aid,” Kenyatta said.

    As the Kenyan diaspora grapples with internal divisions and the looming threat of deportation, the situation underscores the urgent need for unity and collective action. The false promise of cash rewards has exposed deep fissures within the community, serving as a stark reminder of the human cost of immigration policies and the dangers of misinformation.

  • Trump’s Mass Deportation Would ‘Crash’ US Economy, Senators Told

    Trump’s Mass Deportation Would ‘Crash’ US Economy, Senators Told

    President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for the largest deportation of migrants in US history would crash the economy, sending inflation and unemployment soaring while undermining trust in the military, senators heard Tuesday.

    The Republican leader has vowed to declare an immigration national emergency when he takes office in January,

    and use troops to round up and expel the country’s estimated 13 million undocumented migrants.

    But a Democratic-led Senate session focusing on ways the move could harm Americans heard from witnesses including a former army chief and immigration experts, who said the proposals were a threat to the wellbeing of all Americans.

    “The president-elect’s mass deportation plans would crash the American economy, break up families and take a hammer to the foundations of our society by deporting nearly four per cent of the entire US population,” Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan American Immigration Council, told the Judiciary Committee hearing.

    He estimated that mass deportations would cost nearly $1 trillion and shave 4.2 per cent to 6.8 per cent from the economy — matching the devastation wreaked by the global financial crash of 2008.

    The US government has struggled for decades to manage its border with Mexico, and Trump claimed on the 2024 campaign trail that an “invasion” was underway by migrant rapists and murderers.

    But Reichlin-Melnick said more than 90 per cent of undocumented migrants have no criminal record and that most are either in education or employed in sectors such as construction, restaurants and childcare that would suffer under Trump’s plan.

    Retired US Army Major General Randy Manner said diverting the military to mass deportations would be divisive and harm operational readiness and morale, arguing that troops were not trained or equipped for immigration enforcement.

    – ‘We’re coming after you’ –

    The senators also heard from Foday Turay, a married father and an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia, who testified that he was born in Sierra Leone and only discovered he was undocumented when he applied for a driver’s license.

    “On a societal level, mass deportation would be devastating,” he told the panel.

    “As a prosecutor, I know how delicate the ties between law enforcement and immigrants can be. If immigrants are afraid to cooperate with the police — or prosecutors like myself — because they’re afraid of deportation, we all suffer.”

    But there was pushback from the Republicans’ witnesses, including Patty Morin of Maryland, whose daughter Rachel was beaten, raped and strangled in a 2023 case in which the alleged murderer had been deported three times.

    “At this very moment, I think deportation is necessary,” she said.

    “The American people should not feel afraid to live in their own homes,” Morin added.

    “We need to follow the laws that are already on the books, we need to close our borders.

    We need to protect American families.”

    Art Arthur, of the Center for Immigration Studies, cautioned against critiquing a plan that Trump has not yet finalized — but added that whatever policy Trump settled on would “comport with law.”

    Lindsey Graham, the committee’s top Republican, said most Americans were “sympathetic, kind-hearted people” who nevertheless felt betrayed by the immigration policies of President Joe Biden’s administration, which saw soaring illegal entries before a lull in 2024.

    “If you’re here illegally, get ready to leave. If you’re a criminal, we’re coming after you,” Graham said.

  • Inside Trump’s Plan For Mass Deportations

    Inside Trump’s Plan For Mass Deportations

    (Reuters)- Donald Trump is expected to mobilise agencies across the US government to help him deport record numbers of immigrants, building on efforts in his first term to tap all available resources and pressure so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions to cooperate, according to six former Trump officials and allies.

    Trump claimed victory in the 2024 presidential contest, telling supporters America had given him an “unprecedented and powerful mandate”.

    Trump backers – including some who could enter his second administration – anticipate the Republican president-elect will call on everyone from the US military to diplomats overseas to turn his campaign promise of mass deportations into a reality. The effort would include cooperation with Republican-led states and use federal funding as leverage against resistant jurisdictions.

    Trump recaptured the White House vowing a vast immigration crackdown. The centerpiece of his reelection bid was a promise to deport record numbers of immigrants, an operation Trump’s running mate JD Vance estimated could remove 1 million people per year.

    Immigrant advocates warn that Trump’s deportation effort would be costly, divisive and inhumane, leading to family separations and devastating communities.

    Trump struggled to ramp up deportations during his 2017-2021 presidency. When counting both immigration removals and faster “returns” to Mexico by U.S. border officials, Biden deported more immigrants in fiscal year 2023 than any Trump year, according to government data.

    But a deportation operation targeting millions would require many more officers, detention beds and immigration court judges. American Immigration Council, an immigrant advocacy group, estimated the cost of deporting 13 million immigrants in the US illegally as $968 billion over a little more than a decade.

    Tom Homan, a former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) expected to join the new administration, said in a late October interview that the scale of the deportations would hinge on potential officers and detention space.

    “It all depends on what the budget is,” he said.

    While the incoming Trump administration could benefit from experience gained during his first term, it could again encounter resistance from ideologically opposed government employees, including officers that screen migrants for asylum.

    The American Civil Liberties Union and immigrant advocacy groups have been preparing for court battles if Trump again tests the bounds of his legal authority.

    Lee Gelernt, an ACLU attorney who led the fight against Trump’s contentious family separation policy, said more than 15 lawyers focused on immigration with the organization’s national office spent the year readying for the possibility of a Trump return.

    “We definitely need to be coordinated and have more resources, because I think they will come in much more prepared,” Gelernt said.

    The State Department in particular could be one place where Trump acts more aggressively than during his first term, several Trump backers said.

    A key factor will be whether other countries will accept their citizens, an issue Trump faced with limited success during his first term. The Trump administration also struggled at times to convince other nations in the region – including Mexico – to take steps to stop migrants from moving toward the U.S.-Mexico border.

    Ken Cuccinelli, former acting deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Trump, said the State Department was a “roadblock” for immigration enforcement and that aggressive appointees will be key.

    Christopher Landau, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico from 2019-2021, recently said he was frustrated with the reluctance of some U.S. diplomats to tackle immigration enforcement.

    “Nobody really thought that was their problem,” Landau said in an October panel discussion by the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors restricting immigration.

    About half of ICE’s 21,000 employees are part of its Homeland Security Investigations unit, which focuses on transnational crime such as drug smuggling and child exploitation rather than immigration enforcement. Several Trump allies said the unit would need to spend more time on immigration.

    HSI has distanced itself from ICE’s immigration work in recent years, saying fear of deportation made it harder for its investigators to build trust in immigrant communities.

    Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump’s first-term immigration agenda, said in 2023 that National Guard troops from cooperative states could potentially be deployed to resistant states to assist with deportations, which would likely trigger legal battles.

    Trump plans to use a 1798 wartime statute known as the Alien Enemies Act to rapidly deport alleged gang members, an action that would almost certainly be challenged in court.

    The law has been used three times, according to the left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice: the War of 1812, World War One, and World War Two, when it was employed to justify internment camps for people of Japanese, German and Italian descent.

    The Brennan Center and others have called on Congress to repeal the law.

    “Many fear that a second Trump administration would seek to use this law to justify indefinite detention and remove people from the country swiftly and without judicial review,” Naureen Shah, the ACLU’s deputy director of government affairs, wrote in late October.

    George Fishman, a former DHS official under Trump, said the Trump administration would need to prove the immigrants were sent by a foreign government.

    “I worry a little about overpromising,” Fishman said.