Dadaab MP Farah Maalim has thrown an open invitation to the Somali diaspora living in the United States, telling them, “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.”
The former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly made the bold statement during a live phone-in interview on Somali Cable TV on Tuesday night, reaching thousands of viewers in Minneapolis, Columbus, and Seattle, cities with some of the largest Somali populations outside Mogadishu.
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 who now fear mass 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 promised to personally lobby President William Ruto for a special resettlement package that includes fast-tracked citizenship, tax holidays for diaspora businesses, and prime land for housing and farming in the northern frontier.
The invitation comes against the backdrop of President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to resume and expand the 2017 Muslim travel ban and to deport record numbers of undocumented immigrants starting January 2025.
Minnesota alone is home to more than 100,000 Somalis, many of whom entered legally as refugees in the 1990s and early 2000s. Community leaders there have reported rising anxiety, with mosque attendance for immigration advice sessions tripling since November.
A Columbus-based Somali businessman who spoke to bana.co.ke on condition of anonymity said, “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.”
As the invitation gains momentum, Farah Maalim says he has received hundreds of direct messages from families ready to book one-way tickets. “Kenya is rising. We need doctors, engineers, teachers, and entrepreneurs. If America says no, Kenya says karibu nyumbani”, he concluded. Whether the motherland can turn welcoming words into concrete policy will be closely watched in the coming months.