49 Kenyans added to Trump's deportation list
ICE has intensified airport arrests following President Donald Trump’s return to office in January 2025.
Photo credit: File | Nation
By Luke Anami
Correspondent
Some 49 Kenyan nationals are among thousands of individuals facing deportation proceedings in the United States.
The Kenyans have had their names and photographs publicised as part of a wider United States immigration enforcement crackdown.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a high-profile database featuring 125 African nationals facing imminent removal, with 49 Kenyans making up the largest single national group on that specific list.
The US DHS expanded its "Worst of the Worst" public database—targeting non-citizens with criminal convictions for detention and removal to include the Kenyans.
While older iterations or localised rollouts of the administration's "Worst of the Worst" priority tracking database previously cited lower figures such as 15 or 45 individuals (Kenyans), recent reports highlight that 49 Kenyans have had their names and photographs publicised as part of a wider US immigration enforcement crackdown.
Reflected in a puddle, a woman holds an anti-ICE sign at the "No Wars, No Kings, No ICE" anti-US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest, after a US immigration agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in her car in Minneapolis, in New York City, US, January 11, 2026.
Photo credit: Reuters
According to data from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 1,282 Kenyan nationals are included on the agency's non-detained docket with final orders of removal, part of a broader tracking list of over 1.4 million noncitizens from 187 countries.
The figures form part of intensified US immigration enforcement measures under the administration, creating heightened anxiety and legal scrutiny within the Kenyan diaspora community.
Alongside the non-detained group, a smaller subset of Kenyan nationals with serious criminal convictions has faced priority targeting under specialised Department of Homeland Security enforcement tracking lists.
Kenyans make up the largest group with 49 individuals on the list, followed by 44 Ghanaians, while a separate DHS update also lists 112 Nigerians facing deportation.
Mauritania follows with 12, Morocco 11, and South Africa nine.
Alongside the non-detained group, a smaller subset of Kenyan nationals with serious criminal convictions has faced priority targeting under specialised Department of Homeland Security enforcement tracking lists.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency headquarters.
Photo credit: AFP
ICE has stepped up arrests at US airports, targeting immigrants with expired visas, pending asylum cases and active work permits.
"A 'work permit' and/or a pending asylum case does NOT confer any type of legal status in the United States or prevent ICE from arresting or deporting an illegal alien from the country," ICE states.
The publication of lists including Kenyans forms part of a sustained immigration enforcement campaign that has intensified significantly since President Donald Trump returned to the White House for a second term in January 2025.
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