Old news video falsely linked to 2025 US deportations of Kenyans under president Donald Trump
IN SHORT: A viral video falsely claims KTN News reported on Kenyans and Somalis deported from the US in 2025. A reverse image search reveals the footage is from 2017, proving it does not reference the 2025 deportations.
Donald Trump began his second term as president of the United States on 20 January 2025. He first served as president of the country from 2017 to 2021.
Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines
Since his second term started, his administration has implemented an aggressive immigration enforcement policy that has led to an increase in deportations.
In a recent address to congress, Trump asked for more funding to support the deportations, citing the need for increased security at the border.
Data from the US Department of Homeland Security shows that 37,660 people were deported in Trump's first month - lower than the monthly average of 57,000 deportations under former US president Joe Biden.
The Trump administration's policies have sparked protests in several US states.
In relation to this, a video of a news bulletin from the recently closed Kenyan 24-hour news channel KTN NEWS has been circulating on Facebook since February 2025. It is allegedly about "DEPORTEES FROM KENYA".
The video shows former KTN reporter Betty Kyallo reporting on this. On the screen is a list of names: "Charles Kihaya, Bota Patrick, Githua Paul, Mose Eliud Nyachae, Jackline Bosibori, Ongari Vincent, and Seet Sila."
The text placed at the top of the screengrab reads: "64 Somalis and 7 Kenyans deported from the United States."
As part of Trump's new immigration policy, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has so far identified 1,282 Kenyans among the 1,445,549 non-citizens targeted for deportation.
The increased enforcement has caused concern among the Kenyan community in the US, with some individuals reportedly seeking residency in immigrant-friendly cities to avoid deportation.
Other versions of this video, posted as screengrabs, have been shared here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)
But is the video of deportations from the US in 2025? We checked.
Video cannot be from 2025
This video in question was posted in February 2025. However, KTN News closed down and merged with its parent station, KTN Home, in 2024. Additionally, Kyallo left the station in August 2018, making it impossible for her to report on a 2025 event.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
A Google reverse image search of a keyframe of the video led us to the original, which was posted on YouTube on 12 May 2017.
The video told the story of seven Kenyans and 64 Somalis who were deported from the US. The video lists the names of the Kenyan deportees, which match the names in the video posted on Facebook.
This 2017 video does not refer to the 2025 deportations in the US.
The same claim was also published here, here, here, here, here and here.
