1,200 Kenyans to be deported in Trump's immigrants order

A total of 1,282 Kenyans residing in the US are targeted for deportation in line with President Donald Trump’s pre-election promise to clear the country of illegal immigrants.

A statement from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows that as of November 24, 2024, there were 1,445, 549 non-citizens from various countries across the world.

Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and El Salvador are the leading countries with the highest number of immigrants of over 200, 000 in the ICE list set for removal.

ICE removal is defined as the compulsory and confirmed movement of an inadmissible or deportable noncitizen out of the United States.

Since Trump returned to power, ICE has made significant efforts to detain and deport immigrants accused of overstaying their visas or being involved in different crimes.

In the first week, nationwide ICE raids resulted in 956 arrests.

Trump has pledged to use law enforcement, the military, and federal agencies for mass deportations, along with ending birthright citizenship.

Over 3,500 unauthorised immigrants have been arrested across the US.

The Trump administration has also started sending deportation flights-US military aircraft carrying migrants to their countries of origin or third nations.

The operation, which ICE described as part of its routine enforcement actions, seeks to remove individuals residing in the US without legal authorisation.

ICE said the targeted individuals have violated immigration laws or committed other offences that warrant deportation.

There are 11 million unauthorised immigrants in the US, which has a population of 341 million, according to estimates by the Pew Research Center.

Other African countries on the deportation list are Tanzania which has 301, Uganda (393), Somalia (4, 090), South Sudan (136) and Rwanda (338), Burundi (462) and Congo (795).

Ethiopia has 1, 713, Djibouti (29), Nigeria (3,690), Niger (642), Zimbabwe (545), Zambia (174), Togo (427), Tunisia (160) and Morocco (495).

ICE has, however, stated that noncitizens may pursue a form of relief or protection from removal, which may include asylum, withholding of removal, or protection under the Convention Against Torture.

“If a noncitizen is granted any form of relief from removal, ICE is unable to effectuate the removal,” it said.

As per the ICE guidelines, the US government requests foreign governments take appropriate steps to confirm the citizenship of noncitizens suspected to be their nationals.

This is conducting interviews, issuing travel documents in a timely manner, and accepting the physical return of their nationals by scheduled commercial or charter flights consistent with its foreign government removal guidelines.

Lack of cooperation from countries in accepting the return of their nationals, it said, may lead to ICE classifying those countries as uncooperative or at risk of non-compliance.

According to ICE, 15 countries considered to be uncooperative are Bhutan, Burma, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Laos, Pakistan, People’s Republic of China, Russia, Somalia, and Venezuela.

Some 11 others are considered to be at risk of non-compliance.

They are Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Gabon, Gambia, Iraq, Jamaica, Nicaragua, South Sudan, St. Lucia, and Vietnam.