Obama’s Aunt Granted Political Asylum

In about six years, Barack Obama’s aunt could become an American citizen. Zeituni Onyango, half-sister of the president’s deceased father, on Friday obtained political asylum.

Second time’s the charm. In the United States since 2000, she has been claiming asylum since 2002. Her lawyers argued that she needed to stay with Uncle Sam due to medical reasons, but also out of fear of tribal violence in her country of origin, Kenya.

“The asylum process is confidential,” remarked one of Onyango’s attorneys, Scott Bratton, to the press. “We can’t get into details on why the judge granted asylum or the exact basis for her claim.” He added, “She doesn’t want people to feel sorry for her.” Fifty-seven years old and living in public housing in Boston, Onyango can now apply for a work permit, a social security number, and a driver’s license. A year from now, she will also be able to request a green card before receiving the biggest jackpot of them all: the American passport.

It was in November 2008, a few days before the American presidential election, that the world discovered the existence of this kinship, her numerous wigs and limping gait caused by the Guillain-Barré syndrome. The conservative press found ample fodder in this inconvenient relative. After these ill-fated revelations, the Democratic Party decided to return the $265 that Zeituni Onyango had contributed toward her nephew’s campaign. This type of donation is a privilege accorded only to American citizens. Obama’s entourage also attempted to put some distance between their favorite son and his embarrassing aunt.

Obama claims he never knew that she was staying in the United States illegally, and that the law should apply. A presidential aide has indicated that Onyango is not a close relation, and that she and her nephew have not been in close contact. According to him, they last met in 2004 when Obama joined the Senate. Since then, she attended his inauguration in January 2009 but did not cross paths with her nephew.

Barack Obama speaks of her in his book “Dreams from My Father.” In this work, published in 1995, he notably wrote that it was she who served him as guide during his 1988 visit to Kenya. She told him how her brother — an economist, killed in a 1982 car accident — took care of her after she fled from a violent husband. “His problem was that his heart was too big. When he lived, he would just give to everybody who asked him. And they all asked. … So you have to draw the line somewhere. If everyone is family, no one is family,” Obama cites his aunt as saying. Last year, she told the Boston Globe that she was surrendering herself completely to God in this asylum request issue. This week, the White House repeated that Barack Obama had played no role in the decision.