Barack Obama’s Kenyan ‘auntie’ appealed last night to an immigration judge not to throw her out of America.
Zeituni Onyango, 57, who turned up to the hearing in a wheelchair, was expected to claim that her relationship to the president would make her a target in her homeland’s unstable political climate.
But the hearing at the U.S. Immigration Court in Boston, Massachusetts ended without an immediate decision in her second bid for asylum in the U.SMs Onyango arrived at the heavily guarded hearing at the U.S. Immigration Court in Boston, Massachusetts in a wheelchair
Ms Onyango may have to wait some time before Judge Leonard Shapiro makes a ruling as lawyers have 30 days to file written closing briefs.
The hearing may be continued on May 25 if there is no decision before then.
'The hearing went well. She was very honest. She was very to the point,' her lawyer, Margaret Wong, said afterwards
Mrs Wong said Ms Onyango is hopeful the judge will rule in her favour because 'she really wants to stay in America.'
Two doctors also testified in support of the case, reportedly to provide medical reasons why Ms Onyango should stay in the country.
Mrs Wong declined afterwards to discuss specifics of the case before a judge's decisionBarack Obama's aunt Zeituni Onyango leaves the immigration hearing with a companion yesterday
While Ms Onyango arrived at the heavily guarded hearing in a wheelchair with a cane across her lap, she used the cane to walk to a waiting car afterwards.
Last year Ms Onyango revealed she is disabled and learning to walk again after being paralysed from Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disorder.
The computer programmer almost derailed her famous nephew’s presidential campaign when it emerged that she had been living illegally in the U.S. after defying a deportation order in 2004.
The half-sister of Mr Obama’s late father moved to America a decade ago but her first asylum appeal was rejected.
The president affectionately referred to Ms Onyango as ‘Auntie Zeituni’ in his memoir Dreams From My Father and described meeting her during a 1988 trip to Kenya.
But he has adamantly denied that he knew his aunt was living in the U.S. and said she would not get any special treatment.
EnlargeFamily affair: Barack Obama receives a kiss from wife Michelle at a National Prayer Breakfast in Washington yesterday.
Friday, February 05, 2010
Obama's Kenyan aunt plead[s] with judge not to throw her out of America
I thought the story was that she was living in public housing here in the U.S. She doesn't dress like she lives in public housing. Even for a court date.
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