Obama Uncle's Deportation Under Review by Executive Office for Immigration
President Obama's uncle will soon be facing deportation hearings two decades after he was originally scheduled to leave the United States. Onyango Obama is originally from Kenya and was ordered to return in 1992 after failing to renew his application to stay.
He has spent the last 20 years appealing the order and will have his day in court in order to plead his case. Obama's deportation order was brought to the spotlight when he was arrested for drunken driving in Framingham. He did not plead guilty, and his case was continued for one year. As long as he remains out of trouble, charges will be dismissed.
Obama's attorney has previously said that his client came to the United States during the 1960s. He faithfully filed for status renewal and did not have any problems with the government until 1992, when he failed to renew his application.
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His odds of staying in the country appear to be good, given that his sister Zeituni Onyango won the right to stay in the country in 2010. She was facing deportation after staying in the U.S. illegally, but a judge granted her asylum due to the fact that she "could be targeted in Kenya not only by those who opposed the United States and President Obama but also from members of the Kenyan government," Ravelle Mohammed reported.
President Obama has not spoken about either case and has remained uninvolved in the court proceedings for both his aunt and uncle. After Onyango Obama was arrested, he told officers, "I think I will call the White House," but no such phone call was ever made.
"The White House said it expected his arrest to be handled like any other," according to The Washington Post.
Obama has been a champion for immigration reform, and it will be interesting to see what happens within his own family's case. There is no word yet on when a hearing may take place, but the Executive Office for Immigration Review has received the necessary paperwork for review.
