Zeituni Onyango, aunt of President Obama and illegal immigrant from Kenya, is scheduled for a deportation hearing on April 1. Since being ordered deported in 2004, Onyango has resided in the U.S. illegally; living five years in Boston's taxpayer-funded public housing. This will be the third effort by the 56 year-old to avoid deportation. Onyango came to the U.S. in 2002, seeking political asylum from the violence in Kenya.
President Obama stated that he hasnÂ’t been involved in the matter and that it should be resolved the same way as any other case. Some critics of the President see this issue as a test of his duty to enforce laws concerning immigration. Regarding Onyango living in Boston public housing, critics also point out that there are countless legal immigrants and citizens on waiting lists for the accommodations.
Executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, Mark Krikorian, stated that if Obama’s aunt is finally deported, it could “raise the president’s credibility enormously on immigration enforcement." |