This archive report was first published on 15 July 2020.
July 15, 2020, marked a concerning day for Kenyan students in the US as the Trump administration issued a directive requiring international students to vacate the country if their classes are moved online due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Kenyan students who spoke to Daily Nation US correspondent Chris Wamalwa, the directive issued by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is vague and has left them in a catch-22.
"This rule has brought a lot of anxiety and fear among us Kenyan international students in the US," said Mordecai Njoroge, a Kenyan studying at Cornerstone University in Michigan. "The directive is not even clear and so there's just uncertainty and we don't know what to do."
With 3,451 Kenyan students enrolled in US colleges and universities in the 2018-2019 academic year, most of them could become victims of this directive. ICE warned students who fail to comply with the order would face immigration consequences including removal.
"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," ICE said. "If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings."
Several universities, including Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have since moved to court to challenge the directive. Prof. David Monda, a lecturer at the City University of New York, told Daily Nation that his students have been calling asking for a way forward.
"I have been receiving a lot of phone calls from my students in New York asking to know what this exactly means to them," Prof. Monda said. "Many are feeling that they are being unfairly punished because the university does not offer face-to-face classes for the Fall because of unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic conditions beyond their control."
Prof. Monday labeled the policy as poorly thought out, saying many foreign students could be forced to drop out while others may end up being deported from the US.
"To me, this appears to be a blatant political ploy from the Trump Administration to gain cheap political points on immigration for the November election," he said. "It is also a way to force institutions of higher learning to open face-to-face classes prematurely. I'm sure it will become immediately challenged in court."
Prof. Jerono Rotich, founder and CEO of Kenya Students in Diaspora (KESID) Foundation, said the directive throws international students under the bus, bypassing years of tumultuous pain and sacrifice.
"Literally, it throws them under the bus! Bypassing years of tumultuous pain and the sacrifice (financial and emotional) international students go through to get to the US for better education," she said. "Given that most came to the US for quality education, it raises more questions than answers on the future of international students in the US."
