A plane full of Africans deported from the United States of America by the Donald Trump administration landed in Nairobi, Kenya on Friday morning, Kahawa Tungu has learnt.
Reports indicate that besieged Trump, who will be leaving office on Wednesday, has intensified a crackdown on illegal immigrants ahead of the inauguration of Joe Biden, who has promised a 100-day suspension of deportations.
The Guardian reports that the charter plane carrying Kenyan, Somali and Ethiopian deportees left Louisiana on Thursday night bound for Nairobi.
By the time of departure, the international publication reports that there were 50 Somalis, two Ethiopians and a Kenyan being held at the Alexandria Ice centre.
“Two buses were pictured alongside the plane, chartered from Omni Air International, which has supplied planes for previous Ice deportation flights. Witness at the Border reported that people in chains were seen boarding, ” The Guardian reports.
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It’s believed that the plane made a refuelling stop in Sofia.
On arrival in Nairobi in Nairobi, the deportees were transferred to commercial planes for transfer to other countries.
Reports indicate that a final flight could be heading to Africa on Tuesday, a day before President-elect Biden takes office, as part of efforts by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to move as many African asylum seekers as possible out of the country before the end of anti-immigrant Trump era.
Human rights activists continue to condemn the deportations that increased in the past few months even as the coronavirus pandemic continue to ravage the country. Due to the high number of those deported, the individuals were packed in close quarters despite the health threat.
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Some of the Africans deportees, including those from countries such as Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon that are experiencing political violence, had open legal cases while others had not been given a fair hearing by immigration judges appointed by the justice department, their lawyers and advocacy groups claim.
There are reports that detainees were forced, sometimes with beatings, into signing documents waiving their rights to further legal hearings.
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