A Kenyan man has made the painful choice to walk away from his 16-year life in America and return home to Kenya.
Samuel Kangethe, a former Michigan State government accountant, says the decision to self-deport was forced on him by U.S. President Donald Trump’s increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement.
He feared the Trump crackdown would soon make him a prime target for removal.
With a family, a career, and deep community ties in the United States, Kangethe says leaving was the hardest decision of his life—but one he had to make to protect those he loves.
Trump Crackdown Pushes Kenyan State Official Out of the US
Samuel Kangethe first arrived in the United States in 2009 on a student visa.
He attended Lansing Community College before transferring to Norwood University. Years later, he married and gained conditional residency.
But immigration officials never stopped questioning the legitimacy of that marriage. What followed was a drawn-out legal battle that lingered for years in the court system.
The case dragged on without resolution and was further slowed by pandemic-era court delays. Then, without warning, it was quietly dropped from the docket — no ruling, no closure.
Even without a verdict, Kangethe knew he was vulnerable. As Trump’s immigration policies became harsher, the father of three felt his time in America was running out.
“A person like me with a case in the court, I check all the boxes of people they will start with,” he said.
Life in Limbo Under the Trump Crackdown
Kangethe describes the years as a constant state of anxiety. Since his first marriage ended in divorce, he had remarried—this time to an American citizen—and started a new family. They had been together seven years.
Still, the uncertainty never went away. Friends advised him to “lay low” to avoid attention from immigration authorities. But for Kangethe, laying low meant living like a fugitive.
“Does ‘lay low’ mean I can’t take my kids to their game? To their orchestra concert? Their first day of school?” he asked. “How can a father protect his family when he’s in hiding?”
The pressure became too much. Being an active father while avoiding immigration enforcement was impossible.
The decision to leave wasn’t just about his own safety—it was about shielding his wife and children from the trauma of a sudden arrest or forced removal.
Voluntary Deportation Is President Trump’s Policy Tool
In May 2025, the Trump administration rolled out a controversial incentive program.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would pay up to Ksh129,000 to undocumented immigrants who agreed to leave the country voluntarily.
The government also offered to cover the cost of commercial flights for anyone choosing self-deportation.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem promoted the plan on Fox News, encouraging eligible immigrants to apply through the Customs and Border Protection Home app.
Kangethe says this policy underscored how serious the crackdown had become. While he did not take the payment, he saw it as a sign that mass deportations were inevitable.
His choice to leave before being targeted, he says, was about dignity and control.
“This way, I decide when I leave, not them,” he explained.
The Human Cost of the Trump Crackdown
Today, Kangethe is back in Kenya. His wife and three children remain in the United States legally, now forced to navigate the emotional and practical challenges of a long-distance family.
For them, the Trump crackdown is no longer a political debate—it’s a lived reality. Their separation is the direct result of a policy environment that made one man feel he had no safe future in the country he once called home.
Kangethe’s story highlights the deep human cost behind political slogans and immigration numbers. For every statistic, there is a father, a mother, a child making painful decisions in the shadow of enforcement.
While critics call voluntary deportation payments an efficient solution, immigrant advocates say they exploit fear, pushing people to leave even when they have strong ties to American life.
For Kangethe, the United States was a place where he built a career, formed friendships, and raised children. But under the Trump crackdown, all that stability felt fragile.
And so, after 16 years, he left on his own terms—not because he wanted to, but because the country he had served no longer felt like home.
