Kenyans living in the United States have been put on high alert once again after the U.S. government resumed its controversial immigration policy.
This week, the Donald Trump administration confirmed the deportation of five migrants, originally from Jamaica, Laos, Yemen, and Cuba to Eswatini, a small country in Southern Africa.
The move marked the return of what has been dubbed as "third-country deportations", which entails individuals being flown from the U.S to nations they have no ties to under the justification that the country receiving them are 'safe'.
Deportation of the five migrants was announced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday, July 16, which defended the move by labelling the deportees as criminals who faced a spate of horrific charges.
According to Homeland Security, the migrants' home countries reportedly refused to accept them back, prompting the U.S to seek alternative destinations.
U.S media further reports that Trump's government has been in quiet negotiations with more than 50 countries, including several in Africa, to accept deportees considered undesirable by their parent nations.
The trend of deportations has gained momentum since Trump took office, with migrants from countries like Iran, Pakistan, and China previously sent to places like Costa Rica and Panama. Venezuelan nationals were deported to El Salvador.
Earlier this month, South Sudan also received migrants of different nationalities.
Kenya has not been directly involved in any of these deportations. However, the resumption of the U.S third-party deportations could spell doom for undocumented Kenyans or those facing deportation proceedings.
In January, it was reported that more than 1200 Kenyans in the U.S were issued with final orders after exhausting their legal options, meaning they were on the radar of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
For these Kenyans, their deportation could happen at any time, especially under the volatile policies which are being fast-tracked under Trump's administration.
It is also worth noting that it is not only migrants with horrific crimes who are forced to take flights to third-world countries. Visa overstayers, including students, tourists or visitors in the United States who have overstayed the validity of their visas, are vulnerable to deportation as they are also considered 'undocumented'.
Asylum seekers are also at risk. Kenyans who applied for asylum in the U.S over fears of political persecution could be sent back to the so-called "safe country" like Eswatini.
Further, mixed-status families where some members are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, while others lack legal status could see the undocumented members removed from the States and back to their home nations.
As recently as July 9, a man with Kenyan roots went on CNN to decry being deported to Jamaica, a country he had never set foot in prior to his deportation. The 39-year-old, born to an American father and a Kenyan mother, claimed the deportation rendered him stateless since he is neither a Jamaican, German, US citizen, nor even a Kenyan citizen
