How Kenyan students survive US immigration crackdown

Tuesday, June 30, 2026 - 6 min read

Margaret Ndirangu (left), 20, is a rising sophomore at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, pursuing engineering, while Jada Amani, 20, is a rising sophomore at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, pursuing a double major in mathematics and computer science.

Photo credit: Pool

By Michael Ochieng'

Contributor

Nation Media Group

Margaret Ndirangu, a Kenyan student in the US, rarely leaves her room without all her papers. Inside her bag, she carries her passport, her I-20, letters from her college—every document that proves she is in the US legally.

“You carry everything,” she says. “It gives you peace of mind.”
For now, under the Donald Trump administration, that routine anchors her days in the US: work at the university’s IT desk, helping students fix Wi-Fi issues and connect to printers, finish her engineering readings, and keep the papers close.
She is among international students in the US who have taken a cautious approach to avoid risks of losing scholarships if unable to complete their study in the US, owing to the Trump administration’s policies.