Relief for Kenyans in US as Obama lifts immigrants deportation threat

WASHINGTON

President Obama offered five million undocumented migrants protection from deportation Friday in a move that could benefit 30,000 Kenyans living in the US illegally.

The move allows families to emerge from the shadows and seek work permits.

In a move that infuriated his Republican critics and drew unspecified pledges to counter it, President Obama said nearly all undocumented people living in the country for more than five years and who have a child who is a US citizen or legal permanent resident can apply for a three-year work authorisation.

The president also broadened the programme he launched in 2012 that provides temporary residency to young undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States before the age of 16.

“There are actions I have the legal authority to take as president — the same kinds of actions taken by Democratic and Republican presidents before me,” Obama said in a 15-minute speech broadcast from the White House.

MENIAL JOBS
The order will affect about 44 percent of the 11.3 million people living in the United States illegally and doing menial jobs that most Americans snub.
Though figures on the number of Kenyans living in the US are still sketchy, an expert has put the number at 30,000.

Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at the Washington-based Pew Research Centre said earlier this year that the total number of Kenyans in the US does not exceed 90,000.

Most of the Kenyans went to the US on student visas but opted to pursue other opportunities without regularising their immigration status.

They do not travel back to Kenya for both social and business purposes because of fears that they would be unable to regain entry to the US.

The move could allow them not only to return but also invest back in Kenya.

NO AMNESTY

Kenya ranks fifth among African countries of origin for immigrants to the US, accounting for less than 6 per cent of the 1.5 million Africans living in the US.

The migration institute study identified Nigeria as the top source of Africans in the US: 210,000.

Ethiopia, with 148,000 of its nationals in the US, was said to be the leading country of origin in East Africa.

On Friday, President Obama stressed that the sweeping order, the most comprehensive immigration step in years, “does not grant citizenship, or the right to stay here permanently, or offer the same benefits that citizens receive.

“Mass amnesty would be unfair. Mass deportation would be both impossible and contrary to our character,” Obama said.