Illegal status of Obama’s aunt highlights hot topic with Hispanics



Obama's half aunt, Zeituni Onyango

Washington DC, Nov 3, 2008 / 06:46 pm (CNA).- With just hours to go before the U.S. election, Sen. Barack Obama has dared to comment on the politically sensitive subject of immigration, saying that he supports the deportation of his aunt, who has illegally been living in the U.S. for the last four years.

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 reaction comes after the Associated Press revealed last Friday that his half aunt, Zeituni Onyango, is living in public housing in Boston after having been denied political asylum and told to leave the country by a federal immigration judge in 2004.

The AP also discovered that Onyango had donated $260 in small amounts to the Obama campaign, which is illegal for non-U.S. citizens to do under campaign finance law. The Obama campaign has announced it is returning the money.

The plight of Obama’s aunt raises the situation of immigrants to the national stage at the eleventh hour of the election campaign.

Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio, who is an American citizen with a Hispanic background, recently addressed the national debate surrounding immigration, calling it “bad for the soul of America.â€