A Kenyan national who has lived illegally in the United States for over two decades is facing deportation.
This is after he was arrested by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following a rape conviction in Baltimore County, Maryland.
Jackson Kabut Gichema, 48, was detained by ICE agents in Baltimore County and is currently being processed for removal back to Kenya.
According to US immigration officials, Gichema arrived in the country on a visitor’s visa in 2003 but overstayed his authorised period of stay.
He was living in the country without legal immigration status for more than 20 years.
“ ICE @EROBaltimore arrested Jackson Kabut Gichema, a criminal illegal alien from Kenya, convicted of rape in Baltimore County. Gichema entered the U.S. on a visitor’s visa in 2003, but failed to depart after his stay. He has a final order of removal and will remain in ICE custody,” ICE stated on X on Tuesday, March 24.
He has a final order of removal and will remain in ICE custody.
Court records show that Gichema previously attempted to appeal his rape conviction before the Maryland Court of Special Appeals in 2011, but the appeal failed to overturn the ruling.
He had since been held at various Maryland Department of Corrections facilities, most recently at the Hagerstown site, before being transferred to immigration detention.
Although immigration authorities had issued a final removal order against him, enforcement of that order had not been carried out until now, a situation that mirrors the experience of many undocumented individuals in the country.
His arrest comes as part of a broader crackdown by ICE under President Donald Trump’s administration, which has made illegal immigration a central policy priority, with the agency reporting hundreds of arrests involving individuals with criminal records in Maryland alone since the beginning of 2026.
An ICE spokesperson made clear the intent behind such operations, stating that the operations target public safety threats, including those convicted of violent sex crimes.
Details regarding the victim and the specific circumstances of the offense were not disclosed in the ICE announcement, as local law enforcement in Maryland had managed the initial investigation and prosecution.
Gichema currently remains in ICE custody with a confirmed final order of removal, and authorities say he will be held until his deportation from the United States is arranged.
