Zeituni Onyango
Encyclopedia
Zeituni Onyango is a former part-time public health advocate in Boston
and the half-aunt
of United States President Barack Obama
. Onyango is the half-sister of Obama's late father Barack Obama, Sr.
She is referred to as "Aunti Zeituni" in Obama's memoir Dreams from My Father
.
In 2000, Onyango, a native of Kenya
, moved to the United States and in 2002 sought political asylum
in the United States citing violence: Kenya and East Africa
have seen an escalation in violence in the 2000s. Her case was denied in 2004 but she remained in South Boston, Massachusetts
, and has since retained legal representation. Her case was leaked in the final days
of the 2008 U.S. presidential election
in which Obama was the Democratic candidate.
Her case became the subject of international media attention highlighting "the hot-button topic of illegal immigration
into a race that has largely avoided it" and the contradictory rules governing public housing in Massachusetts. It also sparked an investigation by the DHS as to how her case was leaked and added heightened administrative review on asylum deportations until after the 2008 general election. Onyango's case is often cited in light of immigration reform
efforts of the Obama administration.
in Nairobi
, when she first met Barack Obama
during his first trip to Kenya in 1988. Obama's father and Onyango's half-brother, Barack Obama, Sr.
, had left Obama and his mother when he was two, and was only known through the stories his mother and her parents told, and a month-long return visit eight years later. Barack Obama, Sr. had remarried in Kenya and fathered six children, then died in 1982. Obama's trip to Kenya was to meet the other half of his family. In his memoir Dreams from My Father
, Barack Obama, Jr. writes about his journey and meeting Onyango, referred to as "Aunti Zeituni".
Onyango explained to Obama the significance of Obama's father being the first to fly in an airplane and study abroad; she also explained the complicated extended family on Obama's side from four marriages (two of them polygamous
), and his rise in government to senior economist in the Kenyan Ministry of Finance before conflict with President Kenyatta
destroyed his career. Barack Obama Sr. fathered six other sons and a daughter, in addition to Obama. All but one live in Britain or the United States as of 2010.
in 2000 along with a son who had been accepted at a college in Boston
. Commercial databases show she received a Social Security card in 2001, indicating she was legally present in the country at that time.
Onyango was an asylum seeker when she applied for public housing in 2002. She moved into the apartment, run by Massachusetts authorities, after back surgery
made walking difficult. A BHA official said that the agency was never notified of a deportation
order that had been issued (A 1977 federal consent decree
, resulting from a class action lawsuit in Waltham
, prohibits state officials from denying public housing to illegal immigrants). Beginning in 2003 she lived in a South Boston public housing
project, according to Boston Public Housing Authority (BHA) officials. William McGonagle, deputy director of the Authority, stated Onyango did a good job as a public health advocate on behalf of the Boston Housing Authority. Described as a frail woman who walks with cane, she lives in flat normally set aside for people facing physical hardship.
As of 2008 Onyango worked as a volunteer computer systems co-ordinator for the Experience Corps
, a program in which adults over 55 mentor children in their communities. McGonagle added "We have no affirmative responsibility I am aware of to further check on their status after they are initially deemed to be eligible."
Onyango's immigration lawyer since 2008, Margaret Wong, stated Onyango could be barred from reentering for up to ten years if she left the US now. Wong stated that Onyango needed to stay for medical care because she could not walk.
Onyango was granted political asylum in 2010. Interviewed for the first time since then, in September 2010, by reporter Jonathan Elias on WBZ-TV
in Boston, she described living in a homeless shelter for two years in Boston while waiting for her public housing apartment. She said she receives disability checks of up to $700 a month. She made no apologies for overstaying her visa.
Onyango and the Obama family are members of the Luo tribe
, Kenya's third-largest (12%) ethnic group. Kenya has seen "longtime ethnic tension between the Luo and Kikuyu"; the Kikuyu are the most populous tribe accounting for approximately 22% of the country's people.
Tensions between the Luo and the Kikuyu can be traced to the mid-1960s post-independence period when a bitter falling out between the president (a Kikuyu) and his Vice President Jaramogi Odinga
(a Luo) resulted in a "sustained political persecution of the Luo" who remain one of Kenya's most marginalised groups. Kenya's current prime minister and former opposition leader
, Raila Odinga
, is also Luo tribe, he is Jaramogi Odinga's son and has claimed to be related to the Obamas.
Odinga serves as Prime Minister of Kenya
with president Mwai Kibaki
(a Kikuyu) in a coalition government
. Throughout the 2000s Kenya and East Africa
have seen widespread ethnic violence
including killings, and the displacement of thousands.
In 2002 the National Rainbow Coalition
won political control of Kenya but the country remained politically unstable with alleged electoral manipulation
which was widely confirmed by international observers in the 2007 elections. The political fallout from the 2007 election resulted in a country-wide economic and humanitarian crisis
.
The American Prospect
noted Onyango's chances of being persecuted and tortured or that family members could be similarly mistreated, whether or not she's deported, had increased as a result of her case being leaked and widely publicized. They also noted that due to the heightened danger her asylum claim was bolstered. When her case was revealed in international media she fled from her home to stay with friends in Cleveland, Ohio
; she felt threatened with people calling and knocking on her door at all hours. The Boston police said that there was a problem with curiosity seekers and paparazzi.
in which Obama was the Democratic candidate. The impetus for the scrutiny was an article by the Associated Press
, based on anonymous government sources, which reported that Onyango was living in the United States without valid immigration status
, after being asked by an immigration judge to leave the country.
Although such an order from a judge can be appealed, it is not known if Onyango appealed the order Onyango was an illegal immigrant.
Onyango's case resulted in a special nationwide directive within Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) requiring any deportations to be approved at the level of ICE regional directors before the U.S presidential election. In discussing Onyango's case, various media outlets have discussed some of the issues of immigrants, including political asylum cases.
MSNBC
's Domenico Montanaro noted that thousands of people live for years in the US after receiving deportation
orders. "Fugitive apprehension teams usually target suspects with criminal records before they go after simple immigration violators".
Of an estimated ten million illegal immigrants, The Washington Post
noted that an estimated 550,000 persons that have been denied asylum
continue to reside in the United States. She now has until May before the court makes a decision.
. It is illegal for foreign citizens and/or immigrants without green cards to make political donations. The campaign stated they would return the donations regardless of her status to avoid any appearance of wrongdoing. One of the six commissioners of the Federal Election Commission
(FEC), Ellen Weintraub, stated she was unsure if the agency – charged with administering and enforcing finance statutes that govern the election – had any mechanism to prevent contributions from foreign nationals. Weintraub stated donors are not required to furnish the FEC with Social Security Numbers and the two major parties have large opposition research departments to look for irregularities including "foreign-sounding names".
(DHS) from disclosing information about citizens and permanent residents, and DHS policy limits disclosures about immigrant's status. Asylum
seekers are granted greater protection from release of information to the public, because of the sensitive nature of their claims and the risks of retaliation. In a statement, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) said the matter has been referred to the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility
and its parent department's inspector general. "They are looking into whether there was a violation of policy in publicly disclosing individual case information", ICE spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said. "We can't comment on individual cases."
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and the half-aunt
Aunt
An aunt is a person who is the sister or sister-in-law of a parent. A man with an equivalent relationship is an uncle, and the reciprocal relationship is that of a nephew or niece....
of United States President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
. Onyango is the half-sister of Obama's late father Barack Obama, Sr.
Barack Obama, Sr.
Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was a Kenyan senior governmental economist and the father of U.S. President Barack Obama. He is a central subject in his son's memoir, Dreams from My Father.-Early life:...
She is referred to as "Aunti Zeituni" in Obama's memoir Dreams from My Father
Dreams from My Father
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a memoir by United States President Barack Obama. It was first published in July 1995 as he was preparing to launch his political career, five years after being elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review in...
.
In 2000, Onyango, a native of Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, moved to the United States and in 2002 sought political asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
in the United States citing violence: Kenya and East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
have seen an escalation in violence in the 2000s. Her case was denied in 2004 but she remained in South Boston, Massachusetts
South Boston, Massachusetts
South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. One of America's oldest and most historic neighborhoods, South Boston was formerly known as Dorchester Neck, and today is called "Southie" by...
, and has since retained legal representation. Her case was leaked in the final days
October surprise
In American political jargon, an October surprise is a news event with the potential to influence the outcome of an election, particularly one for the U.S. presidency...
of the 2008 U.S. presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
in which Obama was the Democratic candidate.
Her case became the subject of international media attention highlighting "the hot-button topic of illegal immigration
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
into a race that has largely avoided it" and the contradictory rules governing public housing in Massachusetts. It also sparked an investigation by the DHS as to how her case was leaked and added heightened administrative review on asylum deportations until after the 2008 general election. Onyango's case is often cited in light of immigration reform
Immigration reform
Immigration reform is a term used in political discussion regarding changes to current immigration policy of a country. In its strict definition, "reform " means to change into an improved form or condition, by amending or removing faults or abuses....
efforts of the Obama administration.
History
Onyango was working as a computer programmer at Kenya BreweriesEast African Breweries
East African Breweries Limited is a large East African brewing company which owns 80% of Kenya Breweries, 98.2% of Uganda Breweries, 100% of Central Glass - a glass manufacturer, 100% of Kenya Maltings and 46% of United Distillers and Vintners Limited, 100% of Universal Distilers Uganda, 100% EABL...
in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, when she first met Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
during his first trip to Kenya in 1988. Obama's father and Onyango's half-brother, Barack Obama, Sr.
Barack Obama, Sr.
Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was a Kenyan senior governmental economist and the father of U.S. President Barack Obama. He is a central subject in his son's memoir, Dreams from My Father.-Early life:...
, had left Obama and his mother when he was two, and was only known through the stories his mother and her parents told, and a month-long return visit eight years later. Barack Obama, Sr. had remarried in Kenya and fathered six children, then died in 1982. Obama's trip to Kenya was to meet the other half of his family. In his memoir Dreams from My Father
Dreams from My Father
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a memoir by United States President Barack Obama. It was first published in July 1995 as he was preparing to launch his political career, five years after being elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review in...
, Barack Obama, Jr. writes about his journey and meeting Onyango, referred to as "Aunti Zeituni".
Onyango explained to Obama the significance of Obama's father being the first to fly in an airplane and study abroad; she also explained the complicated extended family on Obama's side from four marriages (two of them polygamous
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
), and his rise in government to senior economist in the Kenyan Ministry of Finance before conflict with President Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyattapron.] served as the first Prime Minister and President of Kenya. He is considered the founding father of the Kenyan nation....
destroyed his career. Barack Obama Sr. fathered six other sons and a daughter, in addition to Obama. All but one live in Britain or the United States as of 2010.
United States immigration status
Onyango visited the United States multiple times since 1975, returning to Kenya each time until the 2000s. She came on a temporary visaVisa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
in 2000 along with a son who had been accepted at a college in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. Commercial databases show she received a Social Security card in 2001, indicating she was legally present in the country at that time.
Onyango was an asylum seeker when she applied for public housing in 2002. She moved into the apartment, run by Massachusetts authorities, after back surgery
Laminectomy
Laminectomy is a spine operation to remove the portion of the vertebral bone called the lamina. There are many variations of laminectomy. In the most minimal form small skin incisions are made, back muscles are pushed aside rather than cut, and the parts of the vertebra adjacent to the lamina are...
made walking difficult. A BHA official said that the agency was never notified of a deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
order that had been issued (A 1977 federal consent decree
Consent decree
A consent decree is a final, binding judicial decree or judgment memorializing a voluntary agreement between parties to a suit in return for withdrawal of a criminal charge or an end to a civil litigation...
, resulting from a class action lawsuit in Waltham
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, was an early center for the labor movement, and major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, the city was a prototype for 19th century industrial city planning,...
, prohibits state officials from denying public housing to illegal immigrants). Beginning in 2003 she lived in a South Boston public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
project, according to Boston Public Housing Authority (BHA) officials. William McGonagle, deputy director of the Authority, stated Onyango did a good job as a public health advocate on behalf of the Boston Housing Authority. Described as a frail woman who walks with cane, she lives in flat normally set aside for people facing physical hardship.
As of 2008 Onyango worked as a volunteer computer systems co-ordinator for the Experience Corps
Experience Corps
Experience Corps is a nonprofit organization that engages adults 55 and older as literacy tutors for struggling students in public schools. Currently, Experience Corps has 2,000 members working in schools in 19 cities around the country...
, a program in which adults over 55 mentor children in their communities. McGonagle added "We have no affirmative responsibility I am aware of to further check on their status after they are initially deemed to be eligible."
Onyango's immigration lawyer since 2008, Margaret Wong, stated Onyango could be barred from reentering for up to ten years if she left the US now. Wong stated that Onyango needed to stay for medical care because she could not walk.
Onyango was granted political asylum in 2010. Interviewed for the first time since then, in September 2010, by reporter Jonathan Elias on WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station, located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WBZ-TV's studios and office facilities, shared with sister station WSBK-TV , are located in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston, and its transmitter is located in Needham,...
in Boston, she described living in a homeless shelter for two years in Boston while waiting for her public housing apartment. She said she receives disability checks of up to $700 a month. She made no apologies for overstaying her visa.
Political background
In 2002 Onyango applied for political asylum in the United States citing violence in Kenya; a federal immigration judge eventually rejected the request and instructed her to leave the country. Joan Friedland, a lawyer and immigration policy director at the National Immigration Law Center in Washington noted that even though an immigration judge makes a decision other options exist for a claimant.Onyango and the Obama family are members of the Luo tribe
Luo (Kenya and Tanzania)
The Luo are an ethnic group in Kenya, eastern Uganda, and northern Tanzania. They are part of a larger group of ethnolinguistically related Luo peoples who inhabit an area including southern Sudan, northern and eastern Uganda, western Kenya, and northern Tanzania.The Luo are the third largest...
, Kenya's third-largest (12%) ethnic group. Kenya has seen "longtime ethnic tension between the Luo and Kikuyu"; the Kikuyu are the most populous tribe accounting for approximately 22% of the country's people.
Tensions between the Luo and the Kikuyu can be traced to the mid-1960s post-independence period when a bitter falling out between the president (a Kikuyu) and his Vice President Jaramogi Odinga
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga Odinga was a Luo Chief, who became a prominent figure in Kenya's struggle for independence. He later served as Kenya's first Vice-President, and thereafter as opposition leader...
(a Luo) resulted in a "sustained political persecution of the Luo" who remain one of Kenya's most marginalised groups. Kenya's current prime minister and former opposition leader
Orange Democratic Movement
Orange Democratic Movement refers to a political party in Kenya, which is the successor of a former grassroots people's movement which was formed in the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum. The erstwhile single party which separated in August 2007 into two...
, Raila Odinga
Raila Odinga
Raila Amollo Odinga , also popularly known to Kenyans as Agwambo, is a Kenyan politician, currently serving as the Prime Minister of Kenya in a coalition government. He has served as a Member of Parliament for Langata since 1992, was Minister of Energy from 2001 to 2002, and was Minister of Roads,...
, is also Luo tribe, he is Jaramogi Odinga's son and has claimed to be related to the Obamas.
Odinga serves as Prime Minister of Kenya
Prime Minister of Kenya
The Prime Minister of Kenya is a post in the Kenyan government. The first Prime Minister of Kenya was Jomo Kenyatta who became Prime Minister in 1963. In 1964, Kenya became a Republic and the post of Prime Minister was abolished and Jomo Kenyatta assumed the position of President...
with president Mwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki is the current and third President of the republic of Kenya.Kibaki was previously Vice President of Kenya for ten years from 1978–1988 and also held cabinet ministerial positions, including a widely acclaimed stint as Minister for Finance , Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for...
(a Kikuyu) in a coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
. Throughout the 2000s Kenya and East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
have seen widespread ethnic violence
Ethnic violence
Ethnic violence refers to violence expressly motivated by ethnic hatred...
including killings, and the displacement of thousands.
In 2002 the National Rainbow Coalition
National Rainbow Coalition
The National Rainbow Coalition was a coalition of Kenyan political parties in power from 2002 and 2005 when it fell apart in a controversy between its wings about a constitutional referendum.-Formation:...
won political control of Kenya but the country remained politically unstable with alleged electoral manipulation
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
which was widely confirmed by international observers in the 2007 elections. The political fallout from the 2007 election resulted in a country-wide economic and humanitarian crisis
2007–2008 Kenyan crisis
The 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis refers to a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis that erupted in Kenya after incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the presidential election held on December 27, 2007. Supporters of Kibaki's opponent, Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic...
.
The American Prospect
The American Prospect
The American Prospect is a monthly American political magazine dedicated to American liberalism. Based in Washington, DC, The American Prospect is a journal "of liberal ideas, committed to a just society, an enriched democracy, and effective liberal politics" which focuses on United States politics...
noted Onyango's chances of being persecuted and tortured or that family members could be similarly mistreated, whether or not she's deported, had increased as a result of her case being leaked and widely publicized. They also noted that due to the heightened danger her asylum claim was bolstered. When her case was revealed in international media she fled from her home to stay with friends in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
; she felt threatened with people calling and knocking on her door at all hours. The Boston police said that there was a problem with curiosity seekers and paparazzi.
Immigration status
Onyango became the subject of widespread and international media attention in the final week of the 2008 U.S. presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
in which Obama was the Democratic candidate. The impetus for the scrutiny was an article by the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, based on anonymous government sources, which reported that Onyango was living in the United States without valid immigration status
Status (law)
A person's status is a set of social conditions or relationships created and vested in an individual by an act of law rather than by the consensual acts of the parties, and it is in rem, i.e. these conditions must be recognised by the world. It is the qualities of universality and permanence that...
, after being asked by an immigration judge to leave the country.
Although such an order from a judge can be appealed, it is not known if Onyango appealed the order Onyango was an illegal immigrant.
Onyango's case resulted in a special nationwide directive within Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security , responsible for identifying, investigating, and dismantling vulnerabilities regarding the nation's border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security...
(ICE) requiring any deportations to be approved at the level of ICE regional directors before the U.S presidential election. In discussing Onyango's case, various media outlets have discussed some of the issues of immigrants, including political asylum cases.
MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
's Domenico Montanaro noted that thousands of people live for years in the US after receiving deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
orders. "Fugitive apprehension teams usually target suspects with criminal records before they go after simple immigration violators".
Of an estimated ten million illegal immigrants, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
noted that an estimated 550,000 persons that have been denied asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
continue to reside in the United States. She now has until May before the court makes a decision.
Unlawful activity
Onyango illegally contributed money to Obama's 2008 presidential campaignBarack Obama presidential campaign, 2008
Barack Obama, then junior United States Senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007. On August 27, 2008, he was declared nominee of the Democratic Party for the 2008 presidential election...
. It is illegal for foreign citizens and/or immigrants without green cards to make political donations. The campaign stated they would return the donations regardless of her status to avoid any appearance of wrongdoing. One of the six commissioners of the Federal Election Commission
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...
(FEC), Ellen Weintraub, stated she was unsure if the agency – charged with administering and enforcing finance statutes that govern the election – had any mechanism to prevent contributions from foreign nationals. Weintraub stated donors are not required to furnish the FEC with Social Security Numbers and the two major parties have large opposition research departments to look for irregularities including "foreign-sounding names".
Legality regarding release of information
The Washington Post noted federal privacy law restricts the Department of Homeland SecurityUnited States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...
(DHS) from disclosing information about citizens and permanent residents, and DHS policy limits disclosures about immigrant's status. Asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
seekers are granted greater protection from release of information to the public, because of the sensitive nature of their claims and the risks of retaliation. In a statement, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security , responsible for identifying, investigating, and dismantling vulnerabilities regarding the nation's border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security...
(ICE) said the matter has been referred to the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility
Office of Professional Responsibility
The Office of Professional Responsibility is part of the United States Department of Justice responsible for investigating attorneys employed by the DOJ who have been accused of misconduct or crimes in their professional functions...
and its parent department's inspector general. "They are looking into whether there was a violation of policy in publicly disclosing individual case information", ICE spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said. "We can't comment on individual cases."
Waiver of deportation granted
Zeituni Onyango was granted a waiver of deportation on May 17, 2010 by the United States and is currently a legal resident. Immigration Judge Leonard I. Shapiro granted Zeituni Onyango, her lawyers Margaret Wong and Scott Bratton, and her two doctors an extended hearing which lasted five hours. At the end Shapiro granted her legal residency and permission to work in the United States.See also
- History of laws concerning immigration and naturalization in the United StatesHistory of laws concerning immigration and naturalization in the United StatesThis is a history of laws concerning immigration and naturalization in the United States.-18th century:The first naturalization law in the United States was the Naturalization Act of 1790, which restricted naturalization to "free white persons" of "good moral character" who had resided in the...
- Illegal immigrant population of the United StatesIllegal immigrant population of the United StatesThe actual size and the origin of the Illegal immigrant population in the United States is uncertain and difficult to ascertain because of difficulty in accurately counting individuals in this population...
- Immigration to the United StatesImmigration to the United StatesImmigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants,...