This archive report was first published on 11 July 2020.
Published on July 11, 2020, Kenyan students and scholars in the US have expressed their strong opposition to the Trump administration's directive requiring foreign learners whose classes are moved online due to the Covid-19 pandemic to leave the country.
The directive, issued by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has sparked widespread criticism from the affected students and scholars, who argue that it is punitive and unfair.
According to ICE, 'active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status.' Failure to comply with this directive may result in 'immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.'
Prof. Kefa Otiso, a Kenyan lecturer at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, termed the order as 'punitive,' saying Kenya should send a protest note to the US government through its ambassador.
'There is no justification in suddenly disrupting the lives of Kenyans in America,' he said.
The directive has since been challenged in court by several universities, including Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which argue that the affected students would face significant challenges in attending online classes from their home countries.
According to Harvard and MIT, 'because of these challenges, many international students could abandon their studies.'
There were more than 4,000 Kenyan students enrolled in US higher learning institutions in the 2019/20 academic year, according to Kenya Scholars and Studies Association president Jerono Rotich.
International students in the US contributed $44.7 billion to the US economy in 2018, with China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Canada having the highest number of foreign students in the US during the period.
