Duped, Served, Deported: Kenyan Shares Tragic Path Through US Military Recruitment Fraud

David Bariu arrived in the United States on a student visa in 1998.

Bariu was enticed by an army recruiter’s promises of education and citizenship. These assurances led him to enlist in the US Army and later serve in the Air Force Reserves, where he dedicated himself to defending the Constitution and embodying American values. However, Bariu’s aspirations were abruptly derailed in 2007 when the recruiter who had facilitated his enlistment was court-martialed for unlawfully recruiting African national students. This revelation resulted in Bariu’s military certifications being revoked, with his discharge papers citing an “erroneous entry.” The consequences of this administrative decision were severe and life-altering.

Bariu found himself detained in a Texas immigrant detention centre for a year, facing the prospect of deportation. He notes that the rationale behind his detention and impending removal from the country remained obscure. Bariu reflects on this period with confusion, wondering if the authorities were attempting to break his spirit or provoke him into negative actions or statements against the United States. Following his deportation to Kenya, Bariu spent over a decade navigating life in a country that had become foreign to him and his military aspirations shattered.

He grappled with the paradox of a system that had once promised him citizenship but subsequently cast him aside. In 2022, after 14 years of separation from the United States, Bariu received an opportunity to return through the Immigrant Military Members Veterans Initiative. This program enabled him to finally obtain the legal citizenship he had long sought, though the victory was bittersweet after years of struggle and disappointment.

Bariu’s experience is not isolated. An undetermined number of honourably discharged US veterans have faced similar deportations, raising questions about the treatment of those who have served the nation. Bariu now advocates for the US government intervention on behalf of deported veterans.