.AP: Obama aunt from Kenya living in US illegally
WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Obama's aunt, a Kenyan woman who has been quietly living in public housing in Boston, is in the United States illegally after an immigration judge rejected her request for asylum four years ago, The Associated Press has learned.
Zeituni Onyango, 56, referred to as "Aunti Zeituni" in Obama's memoir, was instructed to leave the United States by a U.S. immigration judge who denied her asylum request, a person familiar with the matter told the AP late Friday. This person spoke on condition of anonymity because no one was authorized to discuss Onyango's case.
Information about the deportation case was disclosed and confirmed by two separate sources, one of them a federal law enforcment official. The information they made available is known to officials in the federal government, but the AP could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved in its release.
Onyango's refusal to leave the country would represent an administrative, non-criminal violation of U.S. immigration law, meaning such cases are handled outside the criminal court system. Estimates vary, but many experts believe there are more than 10 million such immigrants in the United States.
The AP could not reach Onyango immediately for comment. No one answered the telephone number listed in her name late Friday. It was unclear why her request for asylum was rejected in 2004.
Onyango is not a relative whom Obama has discussed in campaign appearances and, unlike Obama's father and grandmother, is not someone who has been part of the public discussion about his personal life.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Kelly Nantel, said the government does not comment on an individual's citizenship status or immigration case.
Onyango's case—coming to light just days before the presidential election—led to an unusual nationwide directive within Immigrations and Customs Enforcement requiring any deportations prior to Tuesday's election to be approved at least at the level of ICE regional directors, the U.S. law enforcement official told the AP.
The unusual directive suggests that the Bush administration is sensitive to the political implications of Onyango's case coming to light so close to the election.
Kenya is in eastern Africa between Somalia and Tanzania. The country has been fractured in violence in recent years, including a period of two months of bloodshed after December 2007 that killed 1,500 people.
The disclosure about Onyango came just one day after Obama's presidential campaign confirmed to the Times of London that Onyango, who has lived quietly in public housing in South Boston for five years, was Obama's half aunt on his father's side.
It was not immediately clear how Onyango might have qualified for public housing with a standing deportation order.
BreitBart
You see this is the part I hate. Poor old lady does not deserve to have her name dragged through the mud, because her nephew is a communist.
Of course it speaks volumes about Obama. What a piece of shit. You would think he could have gotten her an attorney, he could have even acted as aunties attorney and gotten her a green card. I am sure if Sen. Obama would have written her a letter, that judge would have reconsidered.
And you people believe he's going to help you, he wont even lift a finger for his own auntie. Never trust anyone who would mistreat his own family.
Family first, then country, then god or anybody else.
Zeituni Onyango, 56, referred to as "Aunti Zeituni" in Obama's memoir, was instructed to leave the United States by a U.S. immigration judge who denied her asylum request, a person familiar with the matter told the AP late Friday. This person spoke on condition of anonymity because no one was authorized to discuss Onyango's case.
Information about the deportation case was disclosed and confirmed by two separate sources, one of them a federal law enforcment official. The information they made available is known to officials in the federal government, but the AP could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved in its release.
Onyango's refusal to leave the country would represent an administrative, non-criminal violation of U.S. immigration law, meaning such cases are handled outside the criminal court system. Estimates vary, but many experts believe there are more than 10 million such immigrants in the United States.
The AP could not reach Onyango immediately for comment. No one answered the telephone number listed in her name late Friday. It was unclear why her request for asylum was rejected in 2004.
Onyango is not a relative whom Obama has discussed in campaign appearances and, unlike Obama's father and grandmother, is not someone who has been part of the public discussion about his personal life.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Kelly Nantel, said the government does not comment on an individual's citizenship status or immigration case.
Onyango's case—coming to light just days before the presidential election—led to an unusual nationwide directive within Immigrations and Customs Enforcement requiring any deportations prior to Tuesday's election to be approved at least at the level of ICE regional directors, the U.S. law enforcement official told the AP.
The unusual directive suggests that the Bush administration is sensitive to the political implications of Onyango's case coming to light so close to the election.
Kenya is in eastern Africa between Somalia and Tanzania. The country has been fractured in violence in recent years, including a period of two months of bloodshed after December 2007 that killed 1,500 people.
The disclosure about Onyango came just one day after Obama's presidential campaign confirmed to the Times of London that Onyango, who has lived quietly in public housing in South Boston for five years, was Obama's half aunt on his father's side.
It was not immediately clear how Onyango might have qualified for public housing with a standing deportation order.
BreitBart
You see this is the part I hate. Poor old lady does not deserve to have her name dragged through the mud, because her nephew is a communist.
Of course it speaks volumes about Obama. What a piece of shit. You would think he could have gotten her an attorney, he could have even acted as aunties attorney and gotten her a green card. I am sure if Sen. Obama would have written her a letter, that judge would have reconsidered.
And you people believe he's going to help you, he wont even lift a finger for his own auntie. Never trust anyone who would mistreat his own family.
Family first, then country, then god or anybody else.
posted by madtom at 2:22 AM
3 Comments:
He's a Liberal.... don't judge him by his actions, judge him by his feelings. He wants 'us' to be our brother's and sister's keeper. He gave 2-3 percent of his income to charity. He has a brother living on a dollar a day in Kenya. Here he has an aunt he wrote about as being an inspiration and loving influence who is now living in squalor as an illegal immigrant in the same country where her nephew is a Senator and anointed presumptive President. Why are you so hard on him?
By the way, you wrote in a previous response that I shouldn't be afraid. What I am is pissed, not afraid. I'm looking for someone who isn't a flake to start pushing the Libertarian agenda. The Republican party has stopped even trying. I too would have mixed feeling should a period of riots occur. It may well be the thing we need, as long as those of us who value real freedom don't hide under our beds while our officials apologize to the rioter on our behalf as they hand out payoffs to the 'leaders' among them.
I hope you ain't votin' McSame, there Will Derd.
Well I don't know about Will, but I already voted McCain. It wasn't easy either, I was sweating as I filled in the bubble. I have never voted republican before, and there are issues, many, where the Right scare me. But in the end, I could not vote Obama.
And I think that one of the important factors that closed the deal for me was that I did not want single party rule. All other things aside, I think the government works better when different parties hold different branches.
I mean the Bush/republican congress was one of the worst in history.
I did vote democrat in my congressional race.
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