A police officer on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008 outside the public housing building in South Boston where Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's aunt Zeituni Onyango reportedly lives. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
A police officer on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008 outside the public housing building in South Boston where Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's aunt Zeituni Onyango reportedly lives. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
by Frank James (updated at 12:48 pm ET with Sen. Obama's response.)
What impact will the Associated Press report that Sen. Barack Obama has an aunt who is an illegal Kenyan immigrant at last report living in Boston have on the presidential race?
It might have an impact if it could be shown that he aided in her lawbreaking. But since there are millions of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. years after immigration judges ordered them to leave the country, it's not a foregone conclusion that Obama did anything to help her stay.
**** Update -- Obama issued a statement saying he didn't know his aunt was in the U.S. illegally:
"Senator Obama has no knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws be followed." *********
The more interesting question is what will become of Zeituni Onyango if her nephew is elected president? If he wins, she becomes (and already may be) the most famous illegal immigrant in the country. How her case is handled will be watched closely for evidence of favoritism. On the other hand, if it appears she's dealt with harshly in order to serve Obama's political needs, that could be problematic too.
Another interesting question, of course, is how information about Onyango made its way to the media within days of the election.
As the AP reports:
Information about the deportation case was disclosed and confirmed by two separate sources, one of them a federal law enforcment 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. ..
... 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.
Which leaves the question, what was the motive?
Posted by Frank James on November 1, 2008 8:00 AM