Kenyan-born Minnesota House Representative Huldah MomanyiKenyan-born Minnesota House Representative Huldah Momanyi has disclosed that at one point, her family was on the verge of deportation from the United States.
Speaking on NTV, Momanyi said her parents had battled the case for over 11 years unsuccessfully.
“My dad went to the United States in the 1980s and after a while, my mom joined and we remained back in Kenya with my uncle who then brought us to the US in 1995.
“The Immigration system in the US is a very complex system and my parents fought the immigration system for about 11 years,” she said.
Momanyi who was a few weeks ago elected to the Minnesota House Representatives, becoming the first Kenyan-born immigrant to hold such a position said his family and their church then petitioned former Senator Paul Wellstone.
Senator Wellstone is the one who petitioned all involved stakeholders including the Immigration office and the decision to deport them was overturned within 48 hours.
“We petitioned Senator Paul Wellstone with our church. He was a senator of the people, he believed every person had an opportunity for the American Dream and he went into partnership with our church, petitioned, made phone calls, went and protested at the Immigration office and within 48 hours our case was overturned," she said.
“That's by the grace of God and 20-plus years later I'm here sitting elected into a public office in the US as the first Kenyan-born.”
Huldah noted that had the family been deported, she would not know what her life would be like in Kenya.
“Everything that has happened after the decision was overturned has led me here. I don’t know what I would be doing if I was here," she said.
Momanyi added that despite having lived in the US since she was nine years old, she speaks better Ekegusii than she speaks Kiswahili.
She further said that this is because her mother has always
insisted on them knowing about their culture and speaking their mother tongue.
