- Farah Maalim urges Somali communities in the US to relocate to Kenya if facing deportation under President-elect Trump.
- The MP highlighted Kenya’s opportunities, cultural familiarity, and potential for investment in cities like Eastleigh, Garissa, and Konza.
- Maalim promises to lobby President Ruto for fast-tracked citizenship, tax holidays, and land for housing and farming.
During a live phone-in interview on Somali Cable TV on Tuesday night, Dadaab MP Farah Maalim extended a warm invitation to the Somali diaspora living in the United States:
“If Trump doesn’t want you in America, come to Kenya; we will accommodate you. We know you are hard-working and peace-loving; you will help build Kenya.”
Speaking from Garissa town after launching a water pan project, Maalim said Kenya has enough space, opportunities, and cultural familiarity to absorb tens of thousands of returnees fearing deportation under the incoming Trump administration.
“Kenya is your motherland. We share language, religion, blood, and business acumen. Instead of living in uncertainty in the cold, come invest in Eastleigh, Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, or even Nairobi’s new tech city in Konza,” he urged.
The lawmaker pledged to personally lobby President William Ruto for a special resettlement package, including: Fast-tracked Kenyan citizenship for returnees. Tax holidays for diaspora businesses. Prime land for housing and farming in the northern frontier.
Maalim emphasised that Kenya needs skilled professionals:
Kenya is rising. We need doctors, engineers, teachers, and entrepreneurs. If America says no, Kenya says karibu nyumbani.”
The invitation comes amid growing anxiety among Somali communities in the US, particularly following Trump’s pledge to resume and expand the 2017 Muslim travel ban and deport undocumented immigrants starting January 2025. Minnesota alone hosts over 100,000 Somalis, many of whom entered as refugees in the 1990s and early 2000s. Local leaders report a surge in mosque attendance for immigration advice sessions since November.
“We have built lives here, but if the door closes, Kenya is the only realistic Plan B. Farah Maalim’s words feel like a lifeline.”
Maalim’s remarks have already drawn hundreds of direct messages from families eager to return, though it remains to be seen how Kenya will translate the invitation into actionable policy.
