Obama’s aunt granted asylum

After a decade-long legal battle, President Barack Obama’s Kenyan aunt, Zeituni Onyango — remembered as "Auntie Zeituni" in Obama’s Dreams From My Father, has won the right to remain in the United States.  The basis for Onyango’s asylum request was never made public, but her lawyer Margaret Wong said last year that Onyango first applied ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.

After a decade-long legal battle, President Barack Obama's Kenyan aunt, Zeituni Onyango -- remembered as "Auntie Zeituni" in Obama's Dreams From My Father, has won the right to remain in the United States. 

After a decade-long legal battle, President Barack Obama’s Kenyan aunt, Zeituni Onyango — remembered as "Auntie Zeituni" in Obama’s Dreams From My Father, has won the right to remain in the United States. 

The basis for Onyango’s asylum request was never made public, but her lawyer Margaret Wong said last year that Onyango first applied for asylum "due to violence in Kenya." The East African nation is fractured by cycles of electoral violence every five years.

Onyango initially came to the U.S. in 2000 just for a visit, Wong said. Her first request for political asylum in 2002 was rejected, and she was ordered deported in 2004. But she didn’t leave the country and continued to live in public housing in Boston.

Onyango’s status as an illegal immigrant was revealed just days before Obama was elected in November 2008. Obama said he did not know his aunt was living here illegally and believes laws covering the situation should be followed. Wong has said that Obama wasn’t involved in the Boston hearing. The White House also said it was not helping Onyango with legal fees.

Onyango’s lawyer Margaret Wong says the judgment "really does give people hope." Though I’m not really sure how inspiring the case really is for those facing similar battles without nephews in the White House. 

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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