This archive report was first published on 11 July 2020.
Published on July 11, 2020, a directive by US President Donald Trump has sent shockwaves among Kenyan students and scholars in the United States.
As universities across America switch to online courses, the order requires foreign students to leave the country in two months, sparking anxiety among Kenyan learners.
Prof Kefa Otiso, a Kenyan lecturer at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, described the directive as punitive.
“There is no justification in suddenly disrupting the lives of Kenyans in America,” he said.
Prof Otiso added that the policies against foreigners by the Trump administration require attention and asked the Kenyan ambassador in Washington to send a protest note to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Kenya Scholars and Studies Association president Jerono Rotich revealed that more than 4,000 Kenyan students were in American universities and colleges in the 2019/20 academic year.
Several universities, including Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have moved to the federal court to block the implementation of the order.
The universities argue that there is a risk of foreign students being detained or deported should they be deemed to have disobeyed the directive.
“That may bar their return to the United States for many years,” the universities say.
The Harvard-MIT lawsuit also argues that if the students are compelled to leave the US, they could, in theory, participate in online programmes from their countries but their research and learning would be inhibited by time zone variations, unavailable, unreliable, or state-managed Internet connections, and other barriers.
Kenyan students stuck in India could also be compelled to pay more visa fees in order to legalise their stay.
