Thread: Officials to probe Obama aunt immigration case leak

Officials to probe Obama aunt immigration case leak

By Kathy Kiely, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Government officials have opened an investigation to determine how information about an immigration case involving the aunt of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama became public.
Kelly Nantel, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told USA TODAY that her agency asked its inspector general and Office of Professional Responsibility to investigate the matter Saturday after the Associated Press reported that Zeituni Onyango, a half-sister of Obama's late father, is under a deportation order and has been living in Boston illegally.

Nantel refused to discuss details of the case. "ICE is prohibited from commenting on any individual's status or the status of any case," she said in an email.

Efforts to find out who discussed Onyango's case are underway, Nantel said.

The investigation will focus on "whether there was a violation of policy in publicly disclosing individual case information," she said.

According to the Associated Press, Onyango has been living in public housing in Boston despite having been instructed to leave the country four years ago by an immigration judge who rejected her request for asylum from her native Kenya.

In a statement released to the AP, the Obama campaign said the Illinois senator did not know that his aunt was in the country illegally and "believes that any and all appropriate laws be followed."

Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the campaign is also returning contributions from Obama's aunt. The AP reported that Onyango contributed $260. Under federal campaign financing law, only U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents can donate to candidates.

It's not the first time sensitive government documents connected to figures in this year's presidential campaign have been compromised. Earlier this year, two State Department officials were fired after the passport files of Obama, McCain and Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama's chief rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Onyango is a member of an extended Kenyan family that Obama did not meet until he was an adult and traveled to visit the homeland of his father. Obama's father returned to Africa when his son was a youngster and visited only once before he died in Kenya.

An adviser to Republican John McCain's campaign, Mark Salter, said he had no comment on the reports about Obama's relative. "It's a family matter," Salter said.

Obama was raised for the most part by his mother and her parents in Hawaii. He first met his father's side of the family when he traveled to Africa 20 years ago. He referred to Onyango as "Auntie Zeituni" when describing the trip in his memoir, saying she was "a proud woman."

Obama's campaign said he had seen her a few times since that meeting, beginning with a return trip to Kenya with his future wife, Michelle, in 1992. Onyango visited the family in Chicago on a tourist visa at Obama's invitation about nine years ago, the campaign said, stopping to visit friends on the East Coast before returning to Kenya.

She attended Obama's swearing-in to the U.S. Senate in 2004, but campaign officials said Obama provided no assistance in getting her a tourist visa and doesn't know the details of her stay. The campaign said he last heard from her about two years ago when she called saying she was in Boston, but he did not see her there.

The AP could not immediately reach Onyango for comment. When a reporter went to her home Friday night, no one answered the door. A neighbor said she was often not home on weekends. Onyango did not return telephone and written messages left at her home.

Onyango was instructed to leave the country by a U.S. immigration judge who denied her asylum request, a person familiar with the matter told the AP. This person spoke on condition of anonymity because no one was authorized to discuss Onyango's case.

It was unclear why her request was rejected in 2004. Information about the deportation case was disclosed and confirmed by two separate sources, one a federal law enforcement official. The information they made available is known to officials in the federal government, but the AP could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved in its release.
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Shouldn't the investigation be about how and why this ILLEGAL alien is still in the U.S.?

How and why this ILLEGAL alien is living in taxpayer subsidised housing?

How and why this ILLEGAL alien has a job with the housing athority?

And now the Inquisitions begin!

W

Government officials have opened an investigation to determine how information about an immigration case involving the aunt of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama became public.

WHO CARES. THE IMPORTANT THING IS WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? IS SHE GOING TO BE DEPORTED JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER ILLEGAL ALIEN, OR IS SHE GOING TO GET SPECIAL TREATMENT?

The investigation will focus on "whether there was a violation of policy in publicly disclosing individual case information," she said.

Just wondering if it was a "violation" of any policy to remain in this country four years after a request for asylum was denied and an order of deportation was issued! Is it a "violation" of any policy for an illegal invader to not only have access to public housing, but also apparently to be employed by that same agency? Any violations there you think? When is that "investigation" going to commence?

Why is it if something is done against a Democrat...then all HxLL breaks loose and investigations are demanded and given.....but if something is done against a Republican person (Joe the Plumber)..then it is gee how did that happen...

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/01 ... ly-boston/


Barack Obama said Saturday he was unaware that one of his relatives from Kenya was living in the United States illegally and added that believes the appropriate laws should be followed.

The Associated Press reported Friday that Obama's aunt had been instructed to leave the country four years ago by an immigration judge who rejected her request for asylum from her native Kenya.

The woman, Zeituni Onyango is living in public housing in Boston and is the half-sister of Obama's late father .

"Senator Obama has no knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws be followed," the Obama campaign said in a written statement given to FOX News.

The campaign said it was returning $260 that Onyango had contributed in small increments to Obama's presidential bid over several months. Federal election law prohibits foreigners from making political donations. Onyango listed her employer as the Boston Housing Authority and last gave $5 on Sept. 19.

Onyango, 56, is part of Obama's large paternal family, with many related to him by blood whom he never knew growing up.

Obama's father, Barack Obama Sr., left the future presidential nominee when the boy was 2, and they reunited only once -- for a monthlong visit when Obama was 10. The elder Obama lived most of his life in Kenya, where he fathered seven other children with three other wives. He died in a car crash in 1982.

Obama was raised for the most part by his mother and her parents in Hawaii. He first met his father's side of the family when he traveled to Africa 20 years ago. He referred to Onyango as "Auntie Zeituni" when describing the trip in his memoir, saying she was "a proud woman."

Obama's campaign said he had seen her a few times since that meeting, beginning with a return trip to Kenya with his future wife, Michelle, in 1992. Onyango visited the family in Chicago on a tourist visa at Obama's invitation about nine years ago, the campaign said, stopping to visit friends on the East Coast before returning to Kenya.

She attended Obama's swearing-in to the U.S. Senate in 2004, but campaign officials said Obama provided no assistance in getting her a tourist visa and doesn't know the details of her stay. The campaign said he last heard from her about two years ago when she called saying she was in Boston, but he did not see her there.

Onyango moved into public housing a year before her request for asylum was rejected, a spokeswoman for the Boston Housing Authority told FOXNews.com.

"If there was a deportation order, we wouldn't have known about it," spokeswoman Lydia Agro said, explaining that there is no mechanism in place for her agency to get that information.

"We were unaware of her status until this morning," Agro said.

Two separate sources, including a federal law enforcement official, disclosed and confirmed information to the AP about the deportation case. The information they made available is known to officials in the federal government, but the AP could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved in its release.

Onyango's refusal to leave the country would represent an administrative, non-criminal violation of U.S. immigration law, meaning such cases are handled outside the criminal court system. Estimates vary, but many experts believe there are more than 10 million such immigrants in the United States.

The AP could not reach Onyango immediately for comment. No one answered the telephone number listed in her name late Friday. It was unclear why her request for asylum was rejected in 2004.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Kelly Nantel, told the AP the government does not comment on an individual's citizenship status or immigration case.

Onyango's case -- coming to light just days before the presidential election -- led to an unusual nationwide directive within Immigrations and Customs Enforcement requiring any deportations prior to Tuesday's election to be approved at least at the level of ICE regional directors, the U.S. law enforcement official told the AP.

The unusual directive suggests that the Bush administration is sensitive to the political implications of Onyango's case coming to light so close to the election.

One of the sources acknowledged he was not a supporter of Obama or John McCain and said he has no plans to vote on Tuesday. He said that was not a motive for releasing the information.

Kenya is in eastern Africa between Somalia and Tanzania. The country has been fractured in violence in recent years, including a period of two months of bloodshed after December 2007 that killed 1,500 people.

Obama Aunt Found Living in Boston Public Housing

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Originally Posted by NoBueno

The investigation will focus on "whether there was a violation of policy in publicly disclosing individual case information," she said.

Just wondering if it was a "violation" of any policy to remain in this country four years after a request for asylum was denied and an order of deportation was issued! Is it a "violation" of any policy for an illegal invader to not only have access to public housing, but also apparently to be employed by that same agency? Any violations there you think? When is that "investigation" going to commence?

She is a fugitive who ignored a deportation order and the only avenue open to her is deportation, that's the right thing to do. That's what is done to any alien fugitive.

If the government knew where she was and that she was a fugitive, WHY wasn't she deported before this? It's not like she's hiding out at Coleman's "church", like that stupid woman he has hiding out there now. "Individual case information"??!?!? Wasn't her "case" denied and that's why she's an alien fugitive now?

NoBueno's right, investigate the reason why she's still here and collecting benefits not meant for illegal aliens, investigate the "violations" that have been ignored. Then deport her!

Originally Posted by miguelina

She is a fugitive who ignored a deportation order and the only avenue open to her is deportation, that's the right thing to do. That's what is done to any alien fugitive.

If the government knew where she was and that she was a fugitive, WHY wasn't she deported before this?

Probably because there are 600,000 illegals like her ignoring deportation orders and only a few thousand ICE agents to go after them. Plus the illegal loving State of Mass. will not turn her over.

Originally Posted by miguelina

Originally Posted by NoBueno

The investigation will focus on "whether there was a violation of policy in publicly disclosing individual case information," she said.

Just wondering if it was a "violation" of any policy to remain in this country four years after a request for asylum was denied and an order of deportation was issued! Is it a "violation" of any policy for an illegal invader to not only have access to public housing, but also apparently to be employed by that same agency? Any violations there you think? When is that "investigation" going to commence?

She is a fugitive who ignored a deportation order and the only avenue open to her is deportation, that's the right thing to do. That's what is done to any alien fugitive.

If the government knew where she was and that she was a fugitive, WHY wasn't she deported before this? It's not like she's hiding out at Coleman's "church", like that stupid woman he has hiding out there now. "Individual case information"??!?!? Wasn't her "case" denied and that's why she's an alien fugitive now?

NoBueno's right, investigate the reason why she's still here and collecting benefits not meant for illegal aliens, investigate the "violations" that have been ignored. Then deport her!

I like to use sarcasm often to make my points, as a result of often being utterly dissapointed by elected officials. Most of us are well aware of the numerous violations of law this woman has committed by ignoring an order of deportation by remaining in this counry!

That is, everyone except some politicians and certain ICE officials, ( who are likely being pressured by those politicans) into ignoring those issues and instead, focusing their efforts on conducting an investigation regarding a possible leak of this information!

Whoever leaked this information should be given a promotion! It's not our fault that it's highly embarrassing and reeks of favoritism or incompetence! Start investigating why this woman is still in this country, after you deport her!