Kenyan Scholar Mzenga Wanyamwa, Facing Deportation from the US, Gets Temporary Reprieve

A Kenyan scholar facing deportation from the United States will enjoy temporary reprieve after authorities allowed him to stay longer pending a decision on whether his case will be heard afresh.

Professor Mzenga Wanyamwa, a lecturer at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minnesota has been at the center of a long-standing legal battle with US immigration.

His attorney Rachel Petersen said the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) gave the don a stay of deportation pending its decision to reopen his immigration case. Ms Rachel however admitted that the English Literature lecturer still faces a tough battle to avoid deportation.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) allowed Mr Wanyama and his spouse to stay as long as they made regular check-ins after an earlier bid for asylum hit a snag. In April, US immigration authorities gave the professor 90 days to show a path to legal status or exit the country.

His deportation had been scheduled for September 9th but Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office requested for 30 more days to allow him get a visa to Namibia. Mr Wanyama wants to teach at Augsburg satellite campus in Namibia after ruling out a return to Kenya.

“If BIA decides to reopen Wanyama's case, he and his wife will have to reargue it before a local immigration judge but they have another check-in with ICE on October 1,” said Ms Petersen.

He has taught English Literature at Augsburg University for more than 10 years after getting his doctorate degree from the University of Minnesota. He entered US in 1992 on an exchange visa to study at Howard University in Washington, D.C.