Telegraph.co.uk: Obama's aunt fights deportation

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/7155237/Obamas-aunt-fights-deportation.html

Obama's aunt fights deportation

The Kenyan aunt of President Barack Obama, Zeituni Onyango, is to appear before an immigration judge to fight deportation.

Published: 11:30AM GMT 04 Feb 2010

President Barack Obama's African aunt is due before an immigration judge for a second time on Thursday to argue she should be allowed to stay in the United States.

Zeituni Onyango, 57, cared for Mr Obama's siblings and moved to the US in 2000.

Her first asylum request was rejected, and she was ordered to be deported in 2004. But she didn't leave the country and her status as an illegal immigrant was revealed just days before Obama was elected.

Obama says he didn't know his aunt was living in the country illegally. He says laws covering the situation should be followed.

A judge agreed to reopen the asylum case, which will be closed to the public in accordance with Ms Onyango's wishes.

Mike Rogers, spokesman for the Ohio law firm defending Ms Onyango, said she was not trying to "capitalise" on her relation to Mr Obama – whose father was Ms Onyango's half-brother.

"Everyone knows she's related to him.

"It's a no-win situation for him. He can't get involved in this. The law has got to run its course."

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Why is it that Obama's entire family, associates and friends stink to high heaven ?

Obama’s auntie still freeloading
By Michael Graham
Thursday, February 4, 2010 - Updated 3h ago
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Michael Graham hosts a talk show on 96.9 WTKK.
E-mail Print (199) Comments Text size Share Buzz up!Here’s another Obama sweetheart deal you won’t see on C-SPAN.

This morning, the fate of Boston’s most infamous illegal immigrant, Zeituni Polly Onyango (also known as “Aunt Zeituni”) will be determined in a closed-door hearing.

Why in secret? Because Auntie’s saga reveals every embarrassing truth that amnesty advocates and open-borders liberals like Mayor Tom Menino and Gov. Deval Patrick try to hide.

The most important being that illegal immigrants don’t get that way without first doing something, well, illegal.

President Barack Obama’s Aunt Zeituni admits she illegally overstayed her visa. Instead of obeying the law, she went to a judge in 2003 with a bogus request for asylum. She was turned down. She ignored the deportation order and instead filed an appeal. She was told again: It’s illegal for you to stay.

She’s still here.

Aunt Zeituni donated $260 to her nephew’s campaign for president - which is also against the law because she’s not a U.S. citizen. How against the law is it? Remember when the president launched his unprecedented attack against the Supreme Court during his State of the Union? His complaint was that foreigners might donate money to influence U.S. elections.

All these crimes extend from the first crime - violating our immigration laws. It is simply impossible to stay in this country illegally without committing other crimes, like tax fraud and identity theft.

But it’s not the illegal stuff that Aunt Zeituni’s doing that’s so outrageous. It’s what she’s apparently able to do legally and openly.

She is shamelessly - and happily - living in taxpayer-subsidized housing intended for citizens and legal immigrants. Is there some poor American veteran living in a shelter because she’s got this apartment? Aunt Zeituni doesn’t care - why should she? Menino and the Boston Housing Authority don’t.

And now she’s back in court, using taxpayer resources with another bogus bid for asylum. She says she can’t go back to Kenya because of “political turmoil.” Sorry lady, but if that’s the basis for an appeal, nobody would have been allowed back in the White House since Scott Brown’s election.

Aunt Zeituni’s case puts the lie to the old canard that all criminal immigrants are here to work. She gets a stipend from a city program, along with her housing. In fact, as the Center for Immigration Studies points out, illegal immigrant households are far more likely to be on the dole than the average American. She also highlights the obvious truth of the Heritage Foundation study that our 12 million illegal immigrants are a $2.2 trillion net drain on the taxpayers over the course of their lifetimes.

All of which ignores the most obvious and angering question: Why are Boston taxpayers stuck taking care of the aunt of the president of the United States?

She’s got a millionaire in the family right now, one who also happens to live in public housing, by the way. He’s got room, too. Worst case scenario, Joe Biden can bunk with Bo.

Instead we get another secret deal that’s almost certain to keep the taxpayers on the hook. Mr. President, here’s a problem you can solve with a phone call. Get your aunt a plane ticket to Kenya, or D.C., or hey - how about Nebraska?

Call it the Ben Nelson version of immigration reform. We pay for their Medicaid, Omaha pays for your aunt.

Zeituni Onyango - Feb. 4, 2010:
+ Obama’s aunt arrives for hearingMichael Graham hosts a talk show on 96.9 WTKK.
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In this Nov. 24, 2009 file photo, President Obama’s aunt, Zeituni Onyango, poses in her home in Boston with a framed photograph of Obama and herself, when he was an Illinois state senator. Related Articles
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Receive Free UPI Newsletter Obama's aunt gets immigration reprieve
Published: Feb. 4, 2010 at 7:36 PM
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Obama's aunt gets immigration reprieve
Obama's aunt's removal hearing closed-door
BOSTON, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Kenyan national Zeituni Onyango, aunt of U.S. President Barack Obama, can stay in the United States -- for now, a Boston court said Thursday.

A judge gave Onyango and government lawyers 30 days to file closing arguments, after which he is expected to rule not later than May 25, The Boston Globe reported.

The U.S. Immigration Court hearing was part of her bid to avoid being deported from the United States. She was ordered back to her native country in 2004.

Attorney Margaret Wong, representing Onyango, called two doctors to support her client's bid for asylum. They testified she suffers from an autoimmune disorder, the Globe said.

Asked if President Obama submitted anything in support of his aunt, Wong said "absolutely not."

Onyango said she didn't need the president as a character witness.

"My problem is my problem," she said. "I carry my own cross."

Onyango is the half-sister of Barack Obama Sr., the president's father who died in 1982. Onyango and the president met in 1988 when Obama visited Kenya.

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