A California nurse preparing to move to Canada with her family was deported to Kenya after nearly two decades in the United States, interrupting plans to take a healthcare job in British Columbia and prompting her husband and two children to follow her overseas.
Maureen Wanjiru Ngure was deported Sept. 22 after spending more than a month in immigration detention, Newsweek reported. Federal officials said she had overstayed a student visa and was subject to a longstanding removal order, while supporters argued that she had been wrongfully detained despite efforts to arrange her departure.
Ngure's attorney, Regine Dupuy, said her husband, Peter Mang'ara Muchendu, and their children flew from San Francisco to Kenya on Friday to reunite with her. The family is still weighing whether to pursue the Canadian opportunity.
"They're very family-oriented people and his primary concern was making his children feel secure and safe and returning to join her was the best way," Dupuy told Newsweek. "This was very important to them to be together."
The family had begun discussing leaving the United States in January amid President Donald Trump's deportation campaign, Muchendu told the San Francisco Chronicle. They settled on Canada before ICE arrested Ngure during an appointment at its San Francisco office, according to Newsweek.
Supporters said Ngure had been selected for a Canadian nursing employment pathway, and she reportedly had a job offer in British Columbia. Those plans had not been completed when she was taken into custody.
The Department of Homeland Security rejected the characterization of her detention as unjust. Officials said Ngure entered legally through New York in November 2006, but subsequently overstayed her visa.
An immigration judge issued a final removal order in February 2012, DHS said. Ngure was arrested in Seattle the following month and released from ICE custody in September 2012 pending immigration proceedings, according to the department.
"To be clear: a pending application does NOT confer legal status in the United States," a DHS spokesperson told Newsweek. The department also said claims that Ngure had been unjustly detained were false.
During her years in California, Ngure worked at Contra Costa County Regional Medical Center in Martinez and participated in the county's Covid-19 response. Supporters cited her community work and said she had consistently attended immigration appointments, while a fundraising campaign emphasized that she had no criminal record.
After her arrest, Ngure was moved through detention facilities in California, Arizona, Louisiana and New Jersey. Relatives said she slept on floors and lost her phone and identification during transfers, according to Newsweek.
Muchendu and Dupuy visited her in Louisiana on Aug. 24 but were unable to secure her release. At a Sept. 19 rally in Concord, Muchendu appealed for compassion and described poor food and a lack of privacy based on conversations with his wife, KGO-TV reported.
A GoFundMe campaign for legal and travel expenses had raised more than $26,000 as of Tuesday. Dupuy said the family's next move remained undecided: "They're taking it one step at a time and looking at what is in their best interest."
