A Kenyan man has made the painful decision to uproot his life from the United States and return to Kenya after 16 years in the West.
The Kenyan, identified as Samuel Kangethe, revealed his decision to 'self-deport' was prompted by fears that U.S. President Donald Trump's tightening laws on immigration would eventually catch up with him.
The father of three, who is a former accountant for the State of Michigan, first arrived in the United States in 2009 on a student Visa, attending Lansing Community College before eventually transferring to Norwood University.
Years later, he tied the knot and received conditional residency, although immigration officials have consistently questioned the legitimacy of his marriage, leading to a court case which has remained unsolved for years.
With the court case lingering and hampered by COVID-related delays, Kangethe said the constant state of living in limbo proved too unbearable. The case was quietly dropped from the court docket without any ruling from a judge.
Amid Trump's crackdown on unlawful immigrants, Kangethe believes he had a target on his back, hence the decision to flee the United States.
“A person like me with a case in the court, I check all the boxes of people they will start with,” he said.
Since his first marriage, the Kenyan got divorced, remarried, and started a new family. He is currently married to an American, with their marriage entering its seventh year.
With the risk of deportation looming larger, Kangethe further stated that the wave of uncertainty and need to consistently be in hiding was enough reason to uproot his life in the U.S.
He went on, “I talk to people, and they say, ‘Oh, all you need to do is lay low,’” he said. “I’m like, what do you mean, ‘lay low’? Does 'lay low' mean that I can’t take my kids to their game? To their orchestra concert? Their first day of school, like I have for the rest of their lives?”
“How can a father protect his family and provide for his family when he himself is in hiding?” he added.
Incidentally, while Kangethe decided to fly back to Kenya, his wife and three children are still in the U.S., legally, and are now concerned about what the separation will look like going forward.
Even so, Kangethe maintains that voluntarily leaving the United States was his way of protecting his family.
In May 2025, in the wake of mass deportations by the United States government, President Donald Trump's administration offered up to Ksh129,000 to unlawful immigrants willing to leave the country voluntarily.
The announcement was made by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which revealed that Trump's administration would also cover the cost of commercial flights for all aliens who choose to self-deport.
In an interview with Fox News, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem urged those willing to leave the US voluntarily to apply for their deportation through the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Home app.
