Kenyan deported while serving in US Army after being recruited by rogue agent

A Kenyan man who served in the US military has shared how he was deported from the US after landing in the hands of a rogue recruiter.

David Bariu revealed that he left Kenya in 1998 for the US on a student visa before being recruited to join the US Army and the then Air Force Reserve.

During the recruitment process, he alleged to have been promised US citizenship and various other benefits by his recruiter, unaware of the impending troubles.

Soon after landing the job, Bariu discovered that he was among other Kenyans who also travelled to the US to join the army under the same assurances.

“I was born in Nairobi, Kenya. I came here to further my education,” he said in an interview with ABC Action News.

I fought poverty while in Kenya, now I work as a nurse, US Army technician

He served for three years until 2001, when his recruiter was court-martialed and found guilty of unscrupulous dealings, including recruiting international students into the US Army.

Consequently, Bariu and other recruits were accused of being in the country illegally, leading to their deportation from the US.

“My recruiter was fraudulently recruiting internationals to meet his quota to meet his margins,” Bariu remarked.

Bariu came back to Kenya in 2007 after spending months at the Texas Detention Centre while attempting to appeal the decision to deport him.

The appeal was, however, unsuccessful forcing him to return to Kenya. His military certifications and other documentation were also revoked.

“It’s difficult to explain what reasoning they used to justify my deportation. It didn’t make sense; I was young. I did not know if they were trying to make me give up.

I don’t know if they were trying to radicalise me and make me fight the system or say bad things about the United States,” he added.

He stayed in Kenya until 2022 before getting yet another opportunity to travel to the US under a different program, the Immigrant Military Member Veterans Initiative.