Kenyans in the U.S. are facing fresh uncertainty after the Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a major win, opening the door for mass deportations of immigrants on temporary protection.

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The ruling has rattled thousands of foreign nationals who have built lives in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a legal shield meant for people fleeing conflict, disaster, or collapse back home.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin reiterated President Trump’s sentiments and directive, making the government's position crystal clear during a  CNN interview that migrants have two options: either pursue a path to permanent residency or accept government-assisted return to their home countries.

"Either try to fill out the paperwork and be here underneath a permanent ​status or we'll help you get back to your country," Stated Secretary Mullin.

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In this regard, the administration is even offering a financial cushion for those who choose to leave, a plane ticket and roughly Ksh271,000 (approximately USD2,100) to help them resettle once they arrive home.

"We'll actually ⁠give you a plane ticket, plus roughly $2,100 to help you re-establish when you get there, ​but temporary protective status, according to the courts and in its name itself, is not permanent status," ​Stated Mulin.

The move follows the Supreme Court's decision stripping humanitarian protections from hundreds of thousands of immigrants, many of whom have lived and worked in the US for years, some for over a decade.

Mullin argued that the status was never designed to be permanent, pointing to the courts and the very name of the programme as justification for ending it.

Closer to home, the directive is raising alarm for Kenya's significant diaspora community in the US, estimated at between 157,000 and 170,000 people, according to UN and Migration Policy Institute data.

Of that number, a worrying portion already has brushes with U.S. immigration authorities, and the crackdown is expected to tighten that net further.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke