ASSOCIATED PRESS: BOSTON — President-elect Obama's aunt intends to fight a deportation order and hopes to remain in the United States, her immigration lawyer said Friday.
The Associated Press found that Zeituni Onyango (zay-TUHN on-YANG-oh), 56, is staying with relatives in Cleveland after fleeing her public housing apartment in Boston. She had been living there five years.
Onyango, who is Obama's father's half-sister, was ordered to leave the country in 2004 by an immigration judge who rejected her request for asylum from her native Kenya.
Cleveland attorney Margaret Wong told the AP on Friday she is exploring legal options and may file a motion to reopen Onyango's case or file an appeal for her to stay on humanitarian grounds. She would not discuss Onyango's reasons for seeking asylum in the United States.
"She will do whatever she can do to fight for the privilege to stay in America," she said.
Obama's campaign said previously he did not know about his aunt's status but believes she should obey the law. The campaign said it was returning $260 that Onyango had contributed in small increments to Obama's presidential bid over several months.
Wong, a prominent immigration attorney and frequent political contributor to candidates of both parties, said Onyango believes someone leaked information about her immigration status to try to hurt Obama's candidacy.
"She's upset that people could just hurt her like that ... use her to try to hurt Barack," Wong said.
"She had never asked Barack for help. She just doesn't want to hurt him," she said. >>> By Denise Lavoie | November 7, 2008
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