Obama’s Aunt and McCain’s Office

The following anecdotal story was related by Jorge Mujica Murias, an activist who is working to achieve full rights for Mexicans “on the other side.”

In a number of marches and protests, thousands of immigrants and others opposed to SB1070 all echo a popular chorus: “We want amnesty for your aunt and for mine.” What is the true meaning of the phrase? Are we dealing here with an expression that has a clear and unambiguous meaning?

By using this expression, the undocumented immigrants in the U.S. have brought to light the case of Obama’s aunt, a woman originally from Kenya, Africa, who was recently granted amnesty by the U.S. immigration authority. That explains the reaction, “If it can be done for one, it can be done for all.”

The incredible affair of Ms. Onyango occurs at a time when the U.S. has a decision to make and a time limit within which to make it. SB1070 is set to go into effect July 29, 2010, and the U.S. must decide whether to offer a wide-ranging amnesty in the majority of pending immigration cases — which would be a just solution — or to pass laws similar to SB1070 in most of the states of the Union.

The first option is the healthiest. At a societal level, it would provide legal residency and the hope for a better life to 12 million Mexicans and Hispanics that are willing to work. SB1070, however, criminalizes illegal immigration in a country of immigrants, incites racial hatred against Latin Americans and marks a step backward in the level of civil and universal rights that have been realized by the most powerful nation on the planet.

Such a law would provide a springboard for the commission of more crimes, such as that experienced by Anastasio Hernandez, a Mexican who was beaten by the U.S. Border Patrol. It would segregate people based on their physical appearance, use intimidation to put undesirables in their place and create division and elite cliques in society, thus interfering with the integration of ethnic groups.

Let’s not lose sight of Obama’s celebrated aunt: We should be aware that Zeituni Polly Onyango came to the U.S. in 2000, 24 months after she asked for political asylum due to the threat of violence by tribes in Kenya. That first application was denied, and she was ordered to leave the country. Ms. Onyango ignored the judgment and became a fugitive from justice, pursued by Immigration. But some reporters — not police, of course — found her in a subsidized apartment in Boston just a few days before the 2008 elections.

At that time, Obama, the presidential candidate, came out in favor of immigration reform, and deportations were suspended temporarily during the election season; they must have done it out of a sense of panic that they might deport the aunt of the potential president. In desperation, the half-sister of Obama’s mother* fled once again, moving to Cleveland, where she hired a lawyer. The surprising thing is how fast her luck changed: within six months, the courts had granted her asylum.

Ms. Onyango received her work permit, her social security number and the possibility of getting a driver’s license — and the most enduring thing: in a year, she can apply for permanent residency; in five more, she can pursue her citizenship. Once the threat of deportation was lifted, she continued her life in public housing subsidized by the government in South Boston.

We can see the flip side of the coin in the case of three young, undocumented immigrants who caused havoc in the office of Sen. John McCain, the Arizona senator and ex-candidate of the Republican Party for the U.S. presidency in 2008. What happened there?

Tania Unzueta, Lizbeth Mateo, Mohammad Abdollahi and other young people got into the politician’s office in Arizona, and they decided to sit down on the floor in protest against the proposed law. McCain wasn’t at all pleased that the activists were there, and the intruders were summarily thrown out, in a rather violent manner.

Mateo and Abdollahi were arrested, and they are now in the process of being deported. She is a young Mexican girl, who had high hopes of working out her destiny in the U.S. Mohammad, Muslim and gay, is from Iran, and he is a fugitive from the intolerance of the Nation of Islam. These undocumented activists could argue for their freedom and the granting of work permits, social security numbers, driver’s licenses and even permanent residency and citizenship, by citing as precedent the favors that were shown to the president’s aunt. It could be argued that the young Iranian man deserves asylum given the imminent punishment that he’ll face due to laws against his sexual preference. And for her part, Mateo could argue that she is in fear of dying in Mexico; she could become the victim of a paramilitary group, or she might be caught in a crossfire. She could also be assaulted or kidnapped. However, the U.S. reality is still very far from practicing this kind of tolerance.

According to several surveys, many U.S. citizens are in favor of a legal reform that would welcome immigrants. But even so, more than half support SB1070.

It is still unclear as to whether or not it was a good idea to carry out the protest in McCain’s office. The only thing we know for sure is that McCain supports the new Arizona law. Together with the deceased Edward Kennedy, McCain was the author of the most progressive initiative to date related to immigration law, something that would have had great legal substance. Now he subscribes to a racist proposal that goes against the path he was on. Today, he’s a simple opportunist who can’t even be bothered to listen to nor tolerate the presence of young immigrants in his office.

* Editor’s note: Miss Onyango is a half-sister of Obama’s father.