CHICAGO - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Saturday he didn't know his aunt was living in the United States illegally and believes that laws covering the situation should be followed. The Associated Press found that Mr. 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.
Information about the deportation case was disclosed and confirmed by two
separate sources, one 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.
A statement given to the AP by Mr. Obama's campaign said, "Senator Obama has no
knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate
laws be followed."
Enlarge Image
The public housing complex in South Boston where Democratic presidential
candidate Barack Obama's aunt Zeituni Onyango reportedly lives is seen on
Thursday. The Kenyan woman is in the United States illegally after an
immigration judge rejected her request for asylum four years ago, The
Associated Press has learned (Elise Amendola/Associated Press)
Ms. Onyango, 56, is part of Mr. Obama's large paternal family, with many
related to him by blood whom he never knew growing up.
Mr. Obama's father, Barack Obama Sr., left the future presidential nominee when
the boy was 2, and they reunited only once - for a month-long visit when Obama
was 10. The elder Mr. Obama lived most of his life in Kenya, where he fathered
six other sons and a daughter with three other wives. He died in a car crash in
1982.
Mr. Obama was raised for the most part by his mother and her parents in Hawaii.
He first met his father's side of the family when he travelled to Africa 20
years ago. He referred to Ms. Onyango as "Auntie Zeituni" when describing the
trip in his memoir, saying she was "a proud woman."
Mr. Obama's campaign said he had seen her a few times since that meeting,
beginning with a return trip to Kenya with his future wife, Michelle, in 1992.
Ms. Onyango visited the family in Chicago on a tourist visa at Mr. Obama's
invitation about nine years ago, the campaign said, stopping to visit friends
on the East Coast before returning to Kenya.
She attended Mr. Obama's swearing-in to the U.S. Senate in 2004, but campaign
officials said Mr. 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.
Ms. Onyango's refusal to leave the country would represent an administrative,
non-criminal violation of 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 U.S.
According to Federal Election Commission documents filed by the Obama campaign,
Ms. Onyango has contributed $260 to Mr. Obama over a period of time. Under
federal election law, only U.S. citizens or green-card holders are legally
permitted to give money to campaigns. Ms. Onyango, who listed her employer as
the Boston Housing Authority, gave in small increments to the Obama campaign.
Her latest contribution was $5 on Sept. 19.
The AP could not immediately reach Ms. Onyango for comment. When a reporter
went to her home Friday night, no one answered the door. A neighbour said she
was often not home on weekends. Ms. Onyango did not immediately return
telephone and written messages left at her home.
Ms. Onyango was instructed to leave the country by a U.S. immigration judge who
denied her asylum request, a person familiar with the matter told the AP. This
person spoke on condition of anonymity because no one was authorized to discuss
Ms. Onyango's case.
It was unclear why her request was rejected in 2004. 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.
Information about the deportation case was disclosed and confirmed by two
separate sources, one 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.
Ms. Onyango's case - coming to light just days before the presidential election
- led to an unusual nationwide directive within Immigrations and Customs
Enforcement requiring that any deportations before Tuesday's election be
approved at least at the level of the agency's regional directors, the U.S. law
enforcement official told the AP.
The directive suggests that the administration is sensitive to the political
implications of Ms. Onyango's case coming to light so close to the election.
The East African nation has been fractured in violence in recent years,
including a period of two months of bloodshed after December 2007 that killed
1,500 people.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said Saturday that he had no idea how Ms. Onyango
might have qualified for public housing with a standing deportation order. He
said he's not involved in the operations of the agency, even though he appoints
the head, because it runs mainly on federal and state dollars.
William McGonagle, deputy director of the Boston Housing Authority, said when
contacted: "I know nothing about it and I've got no comment."
The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"
Groupe de communication Mulindwas
"avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"<<1101ObamaAunt500.jpg>>
_______________________________________________ Ugandanet mailing list [email protected] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. ---------------------------------------
