Establishing The Impact Of Kenya Citizenship And Immigration Act, 2011 On Reduction Of Immigration Offenders In Kenya: A Case Of Department Of Immigration, Government Of Kenya

Abstract

The problem of immigration offenders is of great concern to the whole world Kenya included. Countries all over the world are struggling with the problems of illegal immigration, undocumented people, asylum seekers, huge number of refugees and forgery of travel documents. Despite their efforts to find a lasting solution to this problem there is no single solution in the foreseeable future. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act, 2011 on immigration offenders. Despite the previous Act having elaborate methods to control immigration offenders like deportations, repatriations, prosecutions, removals, increased visa and permit fees and watch listing the offenders ( Immigration Act, Cap 172) the problem of immigration offenders has continued to be a thorn in flesh to security policy makers. The Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act, 2011 had the objective of introducing punitive penalties and higher fees for immigration services that would help deter immigration offenders. The Act also aimed to introduce new emerging offences that were not covered by the previous Act. The study adopted case study as the research design and will used descriptive survey as a method of collecting information by interviewing or administering a questionnaire to the sample population. The researcher also used an interview guide which was administered to key informants in the Department. Secondary data was also used which was derived from immigration prosecution records. The target population was those officers in the Department of Immigration whose duties are investigation and prosecution and officers in charges of the Regions as key informants. The sample size was a census of all officers involved in investigation and prosecution duties and a census of all heads of Regions. Data was analysed using inferential statistical feature in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to generate percentages, tables, frequencies figures, correlation and cross tabulation. From the finding it was realized that immigration offenders are not aware of Kenya Citizenships and Immigration Act 2011 neither are they aware of its provisions. It was also found that high fines, penalties and levies have minimal impact in reduction of immigration offenders. From the findings it was also realized that the use of punitive punishments cannot be the best policy to be used to control crime in any society. As a consequence the study recommended that the immigration Department should explore other method of controlling immigration offenders as heavy fines, penalties and levies only encourage recidivism