Obama's Aunt Ignores Deportation Order

This past weekend, a few days before the 2008 presidential election, a leak revealed that Zeituni Onyango, half-sister of Barack Obama’s late father, is living illegally in South Boston after ignoring a 2004 deportation order.

Let's look at the issues from an immigration perspective:

Obama's half-aunt is in the country illegally. She was ordered to leave the U.S. four years ago after an immigration judge denied her request for asylum from her native Kenya. As unjust as it may seem, it is not unusual for people to live in the U.S. for years after receiving a deportation notice. ICE does not have the resources to enforce every deportation order, so they prioritize their efforts and go after those with criminal records or those who pose a threat to the U.S.

An immigrant's privacy was breached. Let's be fair: Onyango entered the country legally and filed a legal application for asylum. Under U.S. law, confidential details about her case should be kept private. When the story hit the news, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) referred the affair to the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General and the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility (ICE internal affairs) for investigation. Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, cannot disclose details about an immigrant's immigration status.

Onyango was living in public housing. How does an illegal immigrant get public housing? It turns out the Obama's aunt half-aunt has been living in federally funded Boston housing since 2003 - a year before she received the 2004 deportation order. At the time of application, Onyango met the required criteria. The Housing Authority has no responsibility to follow-up on an applicant's citizenship status after the initial application is made.

Onyango made an illegal campaign contribution. Federal Election Commission records list a Zeituni Onyango in South Boston as making a series of contributions, totaling $265, to the Obama campaign. It is illegal for foreign citizens and immigrants without green cards to make political donations. The Obama campaign has said the money is being refunded.

Was Obama aware that his half-aunt was in the country illegally? This is an important question for many people voting in Tuesday's election. Did this presidential candidate know that his relative was in the country illegally? In an interview with CBS News' Katie Couric on Sunday, Obama said: "If she is violating laws those laws have to be obeyed. We're a nation of laws. Obviously that doesn't lessen my concern for her, I haven't been able to be in touch with her. But I'm a strong believer you have to obey the law."

Obama's Immigration Policies

Obama has said that it's "just not practical" to ship back 12 million undocumented immigrants. Instead, he believes in a “pathway to citizenship” for immigrants in good standing. But what if an illegal immigrant is not in good standing? Obama's aunt, for example, is ignoring a deportation order. What is Obama's plan for immigrants who fall into this category? Although he acknowledges that "500,000-800,000 people come [to the U.S.] illegally or illegally overstay their visas," nowhere in Obama's immigration plan does he talk about what he will do to enforce deportation.

If tomorrow's election goes Obama's way, you can be sure that groups on all sides of the immigration issue will be using Aunt Zeituni's case as catalyst to push Obama for immigration reform.

Read more about Obama in the Election.

Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images