Obama says he didn't know aunt's illegal status

CHICAGO - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Saturday he didn't know that one of his relatives was living in the United States illegally and believes the appropriate laws should be followed.

The Associated Press found that Obama's aunt had been instructed to leave the country four years ago by an immigration judge who rejected her request for asylum from her native Kenya. The woman, Zeituni Onyango (zay-TUHN on-YANG-oh), is living in public housing in Boston and is the half-sister of Obama's late father.

A statement given to the AP by Obama's campaign said, "Senator Obama has no knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws be followed."

Onyango is part of Obama's large paternal family, with many related to him by blood whom he barely knows. Obama first met Onyango when he traveled to Africa as an adult -- he referred to her as "Auntie Zeituni" in his memoir.

The campaign said he has seen her a few times since that meeting, beginning with a return trip to Kenya with his wife, Michelle, four years after the first trip. Onyango visited the family in Chicago on a tourist visa at Obama's invitation about nine years ago, the campaign said, stopping to visit friends on the East coast before returning to Kenya.

She attended Obama's swearing-in to the U.S. Senate in 2004, but campaign officials said Obama provided no assistance in getting her a tourist visa and doesn't know the details of her stay. The campaign said he last heard from her about two years ago when she called saying she was in Boston, but he did not see her there.

What a strange story. Yesterday, the Times of London reported that Obama's long-lost aunt had been found in Boston:

Zeituni Onyango, the aunt so affectionately described in Mr Obama's best-selling memoir Dreams from My Father, lives in a disabled-access flat on a rundown public housing estate in South Boston.

A second relative believed to be the long-lost "Uncle Omar" described in the book was beaten by armed robbers with a "sawed-off rifle" while working in a corner shop in the Dorchester area of the city. He was later evicted from his one-bedroom flat for failing to pay $2,324.20 (£1,488) arrears, according to the Boston Housing Court.

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In his book Mr Obama writes that "Uncle Omar" had gone missing after moving to Boston in the 1960s - a quarter-century before Mr Obama first visited his family in Kenya. Aunt Zeituni is now also living in Boston, and recently made a $260 campaign contribution to her nephew's presidential bid from a work address in the city.

Speaking outside her home in Flaherty Way, South Boston, on Tuesday, Ms Onyango, 56, confirmed she was the "Auntie Zeituni" in Mr Obama's memoir. She declined to answer most other questions about her relationship with the presidential contender until after the November 4 election. "I can't talk about it, I just pray for him, that's all," she said, adding: "After the 4th, I can talk to anyone."

A photograph of Ms Onyango was later shown to George Hussein Onyango, Barack Obama's half-brother in Nairobi, who confirmed that it was their aunt. George Onyango, 26, the youngest child of Barack Obama Sr, said that he had spent weekends with his Aunt Zeituni when he was growing up, and instantly recognised her.

George Onyango said that his aunt had left for the US about eight years ago but sent him e-mails. "She left to find work and I suppose she thought her life would be better there," he said. "She was kind and caring."

And now the story takes an even stranger turn. Just tonight the Associated Press reports, such as this from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: 

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.

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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.

So what happens now? Illegal immigratin is a hot-button issue, and the wingnuts have been looking for anything they can find to throw at Obama. Since he wasn't even aware that she and his uncle were in Boston, how do they connect this to him, and how can it be made to look bad for him?

The story is up on Drudge Report now, so you know what that means: Drudge -> Fox -> McCain -> repeat ->.

The Boston Herald has an article up now, "Boston Housing Authority 'flabbergastered' Barack Obama's aunt living in Southie":

A Boston Housing Authority director says Barack Obama's aunt, a Kenyan woman who has lived in public housing for five years, is an "exemplary resident" and only recently did anyone know of her connection to the presidential contender.

Obama's campaign spokesman Reid Cherlin confirmed to the Herald yesterday that Zeituni Onyango, 56, who lives on Flaherty Way in South Boston, is Obama's aunt on his father's side.

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It wasn't until recently, when a London newspaper started making inquiries about Onyango, that Deputy Director Bill McGonagle learned of the link.

McGonagle said BHA employees were caught off guard.

"We were as surprised as anyone," he said. "We were a little bit flabbergasted."

Onyango has lived in Boston public housing for five years, McGonagle said.

"She has been an exemplary resident," he said.

She received a small stipend over the past year for working six hours a week as a volunteer resident health advocate in her complex, he said.

Little else is known about her.

Onyango had conversations with several BHA employees in recent days about her blood ties to the senator, McGonagle said. She proudly displays photos of Obama, including some that appear as old as 25 years, inside her first-floor apartment, McGonagle said.

A message left at Onyango's apartment was not returned.

McGonagle asked that the media respect Onyango's privacy.

"She is feeling very put upon," he said.

So from this we know that the Obama campaign has been made aware of the story. The legal ramifications of this appear to be somewhat tricky. From the Associated Press:

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.

It seems that the most important element in this story is that as the AP reports, "This person spoke on condition of anonymity because no one was authorized to discuss Onyango's case." If no one will go on the record, no legitimate news source will (or should) touch this. There was obviously some leak of the information to the AP through the Bush administration or McCain campaign, but since it was illegal to release, no one can legally make any kinds of accusations. At least that's how I read it.

A poster atDaily Kos added the following observation:

Technically she is not here illegally. Once a deportation order is issued by the immigration judge then it is THE FEDERAL AGENCY who is responsible for deporting the person.  The person is not compelled to get on a freakin plane.  Whoever fed this story to Fournier (and it looks like some immigration custom agent) does NOT know how deportation works.  Long story short, the only reason the half-sister of Obama's dad is still in this country is because the federal government has let her stay here.