Kenyans arrested in US over illegal stay

At least 182 Kenyans living in the US illegally have been arrested in the last one month, a new report says.

The report released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) yesterday said the Kenyans were arrested while trying to apply for US citizenship.

Many were applying for citizenship through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme.

DACA is an immigration policy that allows those who are living unlawfully in the US, after getting into the country as children, to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action that could lead to full citizenship.

For an application to be accepted under DACA, an individual must have no criminal record in the US or externally. One must also not be a threat to national security.

The report revealed that individuals from 78 countries globally were arrested for being in the US illegally.

Mexico recorded the highest number of people arrested at 91,272. Mali, New Zealand and Taiwan had the least number at 21 each.

Unknown descent

A total of 118,371 non-US citizens were arrested. Of these, 464 were of unknown descent. From Africa, 1,100 individuals were arrested.

The DACA policy was crafted by former US President Barack Obama in 2012.

The USCIS report showed that nearly 110,000 people who applied to stay in the US legally under DACA, out of a total of 889,000 applicants, had arrest records.

The offences ranged from assault and rape to murder, burglary and driving while under the influence.