About 104 Kenyans were deported from the United States between October 2016 and December last year.
The data is contained in the latest update of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detainees, Kenyan media reports.
Some 94 people were deported in the 2016-17 US financial year, which begins in October. Another eight were deported in early 2017-18 — the highest number being in May, when 15 Kenyans were expatriated.
According to the statistics, top convictions include assault, forgery, domestic violence, fraud and driving under the influence of alcohol.
In general, 2,160 Kenyans have been deported from the US since 2003. The North American country expelled 44,435 people over the same period. This means that in the past 14 years, about five per cent of those deported were Kenyans.
The highest number recorded was 226 in 2010. The data further shows 67 Kenyans are detained in US prisons over immigration and customs misconduct.
They include 14 in Texas, seven in Georgia, six in Minnesota and four in Washington.
The numbers place Kenya ninth among African countries whose citizens are held in the US for flouting customs and immigration rules.
Cameroon leads with 294 inmates, Eritrea second with 257, Nigeria 250, Somalia 205, Liberia 135, Guinea 113, Ghana 103, DRC 101, Gambia 83 and Ethiopia 69.
Many countries are grappling with immigration, an issue that has reshaped politics across the globe and given rise to populist governments in Italy and Brazil, among other nations.
Far-right anti-immigration political parties are increasingly holding sway.
Some European countries are grappling with an influx of illegal immigrants from West Africa and the Middle East fleeing harsh economic conditions and conflicts.
Donald Trump campaigned on the anti-immigration platform to win the 2016 US presidential election, pledging to put Americans first. Since then, similar slogans have reverberated across the globe.
In Kenya, the government has intensified efforts to strengthen immigration policies to weed out illegal foreigners.
In May, the government started a 60-day operation to identify and deport illegal immigrants.
According to the Immigration department, those targeted did not have work permits or documentation legalising their stay. Data from the Foreign Affairs ministry shows about 43,550 foreigners have work permits.
The Immigration department in May created a digital register of legal foreign workers to provide them with electronic identification cards.
The verification required foreigners to submit their original work permit, valid official endorsement on passport, valid alien card, official payment receipt and a Kenya Revenue Authority personal identification number.
The Interior ministry says about Sh360 million per year is spent on deporting foreigners.
Credit: Daily Star
