Judge to Decide on Immigration Status of Obama's Aunt
David Sessions
Washington Reporter
Posted:
02/4/10
A federal immigration judge will decide Thursday if Zeituni Onyango, President Obama's aunt, can remain in the United States after living here illegally for years, CNN reports.
The 57-year-old Onyango applied for political asylum in 2002, citing violence in her native country of Kenya. She was a legal resident with a valid Social Security card at the time, but her asylum request was turned down in 2004. Her immigration status came to light at the end of the 2008 presidential campaign.
Onyango is the half-sister of Obama's father and one of the president's many relatives scattered across Kenya, Hawaii, Southeast Asia and the United States. Obama has not commented on his aunt's immigration case, and the White House would only say that the matter "should run its ordinary course."
The case is being heard in Boston.
The 57-year-old Onyango applied for political asylum in 2002, citing violence in her native country of Kenya. She was a legal resident with a valid Social Security card at the time, but her asylum request was turned down in 2004. Her immigration status came to light at the end of the 2008 presidential campaign.
Onyango is the half-sister of Obama's father and one of the president's many relatives scattered across Kenya, Hawaii, Southeast Asia and the United States. Obama has not commented on his aunt's immigration case, and the White House would only say that the matter "should run its ordinary course."
The case is being heard in Boston.