Kenyans embroiled in new US crackdown on immigrants
By Emeka-Mayaka Gekara
Posted Friday, June 26 2009 at 22:04

In Summary
New law to control flow of low- skilled foreigners to guard jobs for Americans


The noose is tightening on millions of illegal immigrants in the US, including thousands of Kenyans.

On Thursday, Senators from President Obama’s Democratic Party outlined plans to overhaul immigration laws to ensure all workers in the US verify their identity through fingerprints or an eye scan.

An estimated 12 million illegal immigrants live in the US. Majority of Kenyans who are in this unlawful loop are at the greatest risk of joining a steady stream of returnees.

The scheme is aimed at controlling the flow of low-skilled immigrants in order to protect jobs for native Americans.

Senator Charles Schumer, who is pushing the plans, told American media that a national system to verify work documents was necessary because the US Congress had failed to crack down on immigrants with fake documents.

Finger printing and eye scan strategy seeks to block unscrupulous workers who have been using their relatives or friends’ national social security numbers to obtain work.

No permission

“Because they have no permission to work in the US, they use their colleagues’ numbers and are hardly detected,â€