JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Seven Kenyan nationals were arrested in Johannesburg for allegedly violating the country's immigration laws, South Africa's Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has said.

The individuals were found working while holding tourist visas, despite having had their visa applications for such work lawfully declined, the department said on Tuesday in a statement.

The Kenyans were issued deportation orders and will be prohibited from entering South Africa again for a five-year period, it added.

The arrests were carried out during a routine operation by the department in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies, aimed at curbing illegal immigration and visa abuse, the statement said.

Authorities confirmed that the seven Kenyans were employed at a center processing applications for so-called "refugees" seeking resettlement in the United States. The department said that no U.S. officials were arrested during the operation and that the raid was not conducted at any diplomatic site.

According to a report by the Daily Maverick, a South African daily online newspaper, the U.S. State Department applied for visas for about 30 Kenyans to come to South Africa to assist with processing Afrikaners who were applying for "refugee" status in the United States in August.

A South African government official said the Kenyan nationals listed among the original 30 visa applicants were believed to have entered South Africa in batches, all on 90-day tourist visas, to carry out the work, the report said.

They appeared to leave the country when the three-month visas expired and were then replaced by others, and the seven Kenyan nationals arrested in Tuesday's operation had return flights already booked, the official was quoted as saying.

The report said that the Kenyans initially operated from a residential property in Pretoria but later relocated to Johannesburg when a bigger site was required.

According to the report, when South African officials, accompanied by the police department, arrived at the scene on Tuesday and began questioning staff, U.S. officials demanded that the interviews be halted. The U.S. officials also attempted to assert that the workers could not be arrested.

"The presence of foreign officials apparently coordinating with undocumented workers naturally raises serious questions about intent and diplomatic protocol," said the statement published by the DHA, adding that the Department of International Relations and Cooperation has initiated formal diplomatic engagements with both the United States and Kenya to resolve this matter. Enditem