Nimekuwa Marekani kwa miaka kumi na tano. Nilikuwa Kenya mwaka mzima — April 2025 hadi April 2026 — wakati serikali ya Trump ilipokuwa ikifanya mabadiliko makubwa katika mfumo wa uhamiaji.
Watu 605,000 walirudishwa makwao. Watu milioni 1.9 waliondoka wenyewe. Wastani wa watu 821 walikamatwa na ICE kila siku moja.
Hii haikuathiri Wakenya wengi moja kwa moja. Lakini iliathiri mazingira ya mfumo unaoshughulikia maombi ya visa, wahamiaji wapya, na watu wanaonuia kwenda Marekani.
Kabla hujaenda, unahitaji kuelewa nini kimebadilika. Siyo tu sheria — mazingira ya kijamii pia yamebadilika. Uhamiaji ni mada nyeti zaidi kuliko ilivyokuwa. Watu wana maoni makali zaidi.
Hii ni mada tutakayoendelea kujadili katika safu hii: kuandaa watu kwenda Marekani kwa ukweli wa sasa, sio picha ya miaka kumi iliyopita.
Gabriel Mahia writes from the intersection of U.S. institutional infrastructure and East African operational reality. This essay is part of the Year in Kenya series — twelve months, April 2025 to April 2026.
◆ YEAR IN KENYA SERIES
This essay is part of the Year in Kenya series — twelve months in Nairobi, April 2025 to April 2026.
The analytical home for the series is gabrielmahia.com, where Gabriel writes on power, institutions, and what holds under pressure. The full reading order — essays across five properties — is at the Year in Kenya series page.
◆ Year in Kenya — Field Series 2025–2026
Twelve months in Nairobi waiting on a a spousal visa, watching Kenya's Gen Z protests, Tanzania's 2025 election, and an American political realignment simultaneously — from the position of someone inside neither country and reading both.