The administration of United States President Donald Trump has revoked more than 300,000 visas since he returned to office in January 2025, as Kenya emerges among the countries whose nationals feature in the government’s separate immigration enforcement records.
The US State Department announced the latest figure on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, marking an increase from more than 175,000 visa revocations reported in August 2025.
The announcement comes amid an intensified immigration crackdown that has seen foreign nationals face visa cancellations, detention and deportation under the Trump administration’s tougher enforcement policies.
49 Kenyans appear on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) “Worst of the Worst” removal database, which identifies people arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The Kenyans constitute the largest single African national group on the list, which includes 125 Africans, according to the report.
The figure of 49 relates to the deportation database and does not establish how many Kenyan citizens are among the more than 300,000 people whose visas have been revoked. The State Department’s announcement did not provide a nationality breakdown of those affected.
Three Kenyan nationals have also been involved in high-profile deportation cases reported in 2026, highlighting the impact of US immigration enforcement on people living in the country under different circumstances.
Daniel Ogama Adongo, a former National Football League player, was deported to Kenya on June 20 following a removal order issued in March. US immigration authorities cited a visa overstay and a criminal record that included convictions for felony intimidation, battery and criminal mischief in Indiana.
Kennedy Orwa, a Kenyan doctoral student at the University of Washington’s Information School, was detained by Customs and Border Protection officers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on April 7 and removed the following day alongside his 13-year-old son. His F-1 student visa was reportedly cancelled without an explanation.
Maureen Wanjiru, a 38-year-old nurse who had lived in California for two decades, was deported to Kenya on September 22. Her detention followed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-in in San Francisco on August 14 and was linked to a final removal order dating back to February 2012. Her husband, a naturalised US citizen, and their two children subsequently left the United States to join her in Kenya.
Separately, ICE data showed that 1,282 Kenyan nationals were on the agency’s non-detained docket with final orders of removal. This figure is distinct from both the DHS database and the State Department’s total visa revocations.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the administration had revoked visas at a faster pace than any previous administration. He said the government maintained “zero tolerance for foreigners here on visas who break the law, commit fraud or undermine our national security.”
The administration has defended its immigration measures as necessary to protect public safety and national security.
However, rights advocates have raised concerns about due process, freedom of expression and the potential targeting of immigrant communities, particularly amid increased scrutiny of immigrants’ social media activity.
The latest announcement leaves unanswered how many Kenyan citizens have had their US visas revoked since January 2025, as the administration continues to expand its immigration enforcement efforts.
