Obama aunt arrives for her 2nd asylum hearing

After being rejected for asylum in 2004, the president's Kenyan-born aunt attends a second hearing in Boston

Published February 4, 2010 3:11PM (EST)

A hearing on an asylum request by President Barack Obama's African aunt has started in Boston.

Kenya native Zeituni Onyango (zay-TUH'-nee awn-YAHN'-goh) is arguing Thursday in U.S. Immigration Court that she be allowed to stay in the United States.

Onyango showed up for the hearing in a wheelchair and with a cane across her lap. Lawyer Margaret Wong says Onyango and two doctors are expected to testify. The hearing is closed to the public.

Wong says she is applying for asylum for medical and "other" reasons.

Onyango moved to the United States in 2000. Her first asylum request 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.

Obama says he didn't know his aunt was living in the country illegally and immigration law should be followed.


By Associated Press

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