Obama aunt from Kenya living in US illegally

[kaydee457 13]

WASHINGTON – 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 enforcement 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. A reporter went to her home Friday night and no one answered the door. A neighbor said she was often not home on the weekend. Also, Onyango did not immediately return a telephone or written message left at her home. It was unclear why her request for asylum was rejected in 2004.

The Obama campaign declined to comment late Friday night.

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.

source

[one...two...tree 2,762]

McCain's road to victory will be through Obama's illegal Aunt. Obama cannot be trusted. He'll bring his whole Kenyan family over here illegally if he gets elected.

Edited November 1, 2008 by Mister Fancypants

[Ban Hammer 13,977]

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.

----------------------------

It was not immediately clear how Onyango might have qualified for public housing with a standing deportation order.

that's the two interesting parts of this story.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

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.

----------------------------

It was not immediately clear how Onyango might have qualified for public housing with a standing deportation order.

that's the two interesting parts of this story.

Why that freeloader! Deport her! Go McCain! He'll deport old ladies who are here illegally.

[kaydee457 13]

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.

----------------------------

It was not immediately clear how Onyango might have qualified for public housing with a standing deportation order.

that's the two interesting parts of this story.

Why that freeloader! Deport her! Go McCain! He'll deport old ladies who are here illegally.

Typical liberal. Always spending someone elses money.....How about you take her in Fancy?

[SpiritAlight 1]

I think they are rich enough to support a family member, hence not one penny of your tax dollars will stop being used to kill foreigners and help out a single human being in this country.

Do not worry your pretty l'il head about it.

[kaydee457 13]

I think they are rich enough to support a family member, hence not one penny of your tax dollars will stop being used to kill foreigners and help out a single human being in this country.

Do not worry your pretty l'il head about it.

Hey, let's just annex all of Africa! Oh, and how about Mexico and parts of S.A. too.......

We can turn our socialistic tendancies into a virtue, as "The One" says......

[jundp 191]

What the heck is a half-aunt?

[SpiritAlight 1]

I think they are rich enough to support a family member, hence not one penny of your tax dollars will stop being used to kill foreigners and help out a single human being in this country.

Do not worry your pretty l'il head about it.

Hey, let's just annex all of Africa! Oh, and how about Mexico and parts of S.A. too.......

We can turn our socialistic tendancies into a virtue, as "The One" says......

Please, he is known as "That One".

McCain coined it at the debate...very professional behaviour.

Ha!

[rebeccajo 14]

Order of Removal from an Immigration Judge doesn't mean the alien is living in the US illegally. There are steps the alien can take after the decision to remain in the US until further decisions are rendered. Since no one is commenting on the case, we don't know the alien's status.

"The immigration judge hears the applicant’s claim and also hears any concerns about the validity of the claim raised by the government, which is represented by a DHS attorney. The immigration judge then makes a determination of eligibility. If the applicant is not found eligible for asylum, the immigration judge determines whether the applicant is eligible for any other forms of relief from removal and, if not, will order the individual removed from the United States. Within 30 days of a denial decision from an immigration judge, the applicant may appeal to the BIA. If the BIA affirms the immigration judge’s denial decision, the applicant may file an appeal with the federal court system."

http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/press/05/AsylumP...heetQAApr05.htm

[one...two...tree 2,762]

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.

----------------------------

It was not immediately clear how Onyango might have qualified for public housing with a standing deportation order.

that's the two interesting parts of this story.

Why that freeloader! Deport her! Go McCain! He'll deport old ladies who are here illegally.

Typical liberal. Always spending someone elses money.....How about you take her in Fancy?

You and I and the rest of American taxpayers just footed the bill so that lofty Wall Street bankers and brokers could keep their elitist lifestyles and you're upset over an old lady getting housing assistance. Typical myopic reptilian brain.

[SpiritAlight 1]

I despise the term "alien".

Antiquated.

Time for an update USA.

Grrrr...

/rant

Please, back on topic....

[NavarreMan 10]

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.

----------------------------

It was not immediately clear how Onyango might have qualified for public housing with a standing deportation order.

that's the two interesting parts of this story.

Why that freeloader! Deport her! Go McCain! He'll deport old ladies who are here illegally.

Typical liberal. Always spending someone elses money.....How about you take her in Fancy?

You and I and the rest of American taxpayers just footed the bill so that lofty Wall Street bankers and brokers could keep their elitist lifestyles and you're upset over an old lady getting housing assistance. Typical myopic reptilian brain #######.

Fixxored

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Obama's record with his family is to NOT spread the wealth. His aunt lives in a slum, his brother lives in a hut in Kenya, supported by other less well off family members. As a US senator, he could have easily had his aunt regularized and gotten his brother a visa, if he wanted to. But he didn't . . .

This is a guy who doesn't take care of his own, and some of you expect him to take care of you and yours.

Why?

[kaydee457 13]

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.

----------------------------

It was not immediately clear how Onyango might have qualified for public housing with a standing deportation order.

that's the two interesting parts of this story.

Why that freeloader! Deport her! Go McCain! He'll deport old ladies who are here illegally.

Typical liberal. Always spending someone elses money.....How about you take her in Fancy?

You and I and the rest of American taxpayers just footed the bill so that lofty Wall Street bankers and brokers could keep their elitist lifestyles and you're upset over an old lady getting housing assistance. Typical myopic reptilian brain.

Myopic applied to me? You're demonstrating your profound ignorance once again by bringing into this topic another subject you know little or nothing about......