Lamu police are holding 17 foreign nationals arrested in different parts of the county for being in the country illegally.
Among those in the group arrested between June 20 and 28 are 14 people from Tanzanian, two from Comoros Island and a Rwandan.
Lamu county commissioner Joseph Kanyiri said some of the people did not have travel documents while others had fake papers.
Kanyiri said some were arrested at roadblocks mounted by security officers on the main Lamu road and others while crossing over into Somalia.
He said others who had posed as fishermen were arrested at the Indian Ocean.
The immigrants will be interrogated and arraigned.
“We have to find out why they came here,” Kanyiri said, but noted some do not understand Kiswahili and English.
The commissioner expressed concern over the high number of foreigners who get into Kenya without the required documents.
He said many from Tanga and Pemba in Tanzania sneak into Lamu pretending to be fisherman, with the intention of crossing into Somalia to join terror groups.
