US lists 15 Kenyans for deportation in major crackdown

By Newsflash Reporter

The United States government has released a list of 15 Kenyans it intends to deport as part of President Donald Trump’s renewed push to expel foreign nationals tagged as high-risk offenders.

Among those listed is Alfred Obiero, whose long battle with alcohol addiction ultimately set him on a path that American authorities now describe as part of a wider purge of “the worst of the worst.”

Obiero had for years struggled to control his drinking. On Valentine’s Day in 2016, he consumed excessive alcohol before driving on the wrong side of a Kansas road, assaulting unnamed individuals in the process. Police arrested him, marking his fifth drunk-driving offence. Kansas law allows DUI charges to be upgraded to felonies when one repeatedly commits the offence, meaning Obiero narrowly missed harsher punishment because earlier arrests fell outside a legal threshold.

By 2017, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 84 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. Prosecutors struck out additional assault and DUI charges that could have significantly lengthened his sentence.

Later, in 2023, Obiero unsuccessfully sought to withdraw a separate guilty plea from a 2007 drunk-driving case. Now, in 2025, he has been placed on a deportation list as US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) moves to purge non-citizen offenders under Trump’s directive.

Convictions range from DUI to fraud

Obiero is among three Kenyans listed for deportation due to drunk-driving convictions. Texas-based Patrick Mwangi and Daniel Kathii face similar removal orders.

Four others have been branded deportable for assault-related crimes, while eight are accused of offences such as fraud, forgery, robbery and drug possession. The only woman on the list, former Miss Kenya Utah 2016 winner Naserian Montet, will also be sent home after being convicted of assault and violating a court order. Montet had once dreamed of returning to Kenya as a lawyer fighting for girls forced into early marriages—an ambition now interrupted by deportation.

Another Kenyan, Moffat Muriithi, is being expelled for possession of dangerous drugs. In California, Mohamed Chekchekani will be deported after pleading guilty to involvement in a child sex-trafficking ring. Also on the list are robbery convict Bethuel Gathu; Arizona-based Isaac Githinji, accused of fleeing prosecution; Tennessee resident Moses Okoth, convicted of assault with a weapon; Texas-based fraud suspect Clement Mulovi; and Boston-based Francis Mungai, found guilty of receiving stolen goods.

Washington-based Antony Karia faces deportation for fraud, issuing a false statement and a hit-and-run offence. Others include Boniface Mburu (Georgia, aggravated assault), Kevin Gunyanyi (Pennsylvania, assault and terroristic threats) and Minnesota-based Collins Keanche (cheque forgery and money laundering).

Trump’s aggressive immigration agenda

According to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the 15 Kenyans are part of hundreds of foreign nationals being removed under Trump’s revived “America First” doctrine that prioritises mass deportations. DHS states that ICE agents are carrying out the president’s directive to target non-citizens deemed high-risk offenders.

This is not the first aggressive deportation wave in US history. Between 2006 and 2007, under President George W. Bush, Operation Return To Sender removed over 23,000 foreign nationals—some without criminal records but detained during immigration raids. The new removals echo that earlier dragnet, though now framed as a targeted expulsion of convicted offenders.

For the 15 Kenyans named by ICE, years-old convictions and past missteps have now caught up with them. As US authorities move swiftly, the listed individuals are set to return to Kenya under circumstances far removed from the dreams that once took them abroad.