Black Dad of 3 Who Lived in the U.S. For 16 Years Deports Voluntarily

Nationwide — Samuel Kangethe, a man from Kenya who has lived in the United States for 16 years, says he plans to leave the country voluntarily rather than risk being forced out amid growing immigration crackdowns.

Kangethe arrived in Lansing, Michigan, in 2009 on a student visa. He studied at Lansing Community College and Northwood University before building a career as an accountant for the state of Michigan, a job he held until May this year. What began as a hopeful pursuit of stability has now turned into a difficult goodbye.

After marrying a U.S. citizen, Kangethe received conditional residency, but immigration officials later accused him of entering a fraudulent marriage. The case stayed unresolved for years and was eventually dropped from the court docket in 2023 without a ruling. With stricter immigration enforcement now in effect, he fears being targeted next.

“I’m not trying to run from my responsibility,” he told WLBT. “This is actually me taking accountability.” He said the uncertainty of his legal status and the stress of waiting for a resolution pushed him to make a painful choice.

Kangethe has since divorced, remarried, and built a life in Lansing with his wife, Latavia, and their three children, aged 13, 11, and 5. He said the thought of leaving them behind is heartbreaking.

“I talk to people, they say, ‘Oh, all you need to do is lay low,’” he said. “I’m like, ‘What do you mean lay low?’ Does lay low mean that I can’t take my kids to their game? Does that mean I can’t go to the orchestra concert? Does that mean I can’t take them to their first day of school like I have for the rest of their lives?”

Latavia said the separation will bring both emotional and financial challenges. “He’s going to be missing everyone here. We’re going to be missing him,” she said, noting that visiting him in Kenya will cost several thousand dollars per trip and that time differences will make communication harder.

Despite the hardship, Kangethe says he is leaving as an act of faith and to spare his children the trauma of seeing him taken away. He hopes his story reminds others that immigrants are more than their legal status. “He’s done probably far more than what many Americans born and raised here have done,” Latavia said.