Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Let’s have a quick ‘check-in’ with that side of Obama’s family that didn’t attend the big party … and Obama doesn’t seem to remember during the holidays … or any other day.

The Boston Globe:

By Maria Sacchetti

President Barack Obama’s aunt, a Kenyan immigrant who ignited controversy last year for living in the United States illegally, has returned to her quiet apartment in a Boston public housing project to prepare for an April 1 deportation hearing that will be closed to the public.

Zeituni Onyango, a tall, frail-looking woman in her late 50s who walks with a cane, had fled Boston to stay with relatives in Cleveland last fall after media attention erupted over her case. She was spotted at Obama’s inaugural festivities in January and, according to neighbors, returned to Boston a few weeks ago for her third attempt to fight removal from the United States. She had been living in the country illegally since she was ordered deported in 2004.

Now the woman Obama called “Auntie Zeituni” and described as a kindly woman who kissed him on both cheeks and guided him during his trip to Kenya 20 years ago, is in a national spotlight, where her case is seen as a test of the Obama admin istration’s commitment to enforcing immigration laws. Critics, outraged that she is living in taxpayer-funded public housing while thousands of citizens and legal immigrants are on waiting lists, are scrutinizing the case for political favoritism. Others caution that she may have legitimate grounds to stay in the United States.

“The case is unusual in American history because it’s a relative of the president involved in immigration matters,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies. “It really does present the White House with an opportunity or a minefield. If they follow through on a decision that she should go home, that would actually raise the president’s credibility enormously on immigration enforcement.”

Obama has said that he has not had any involvement in the case and that it should run its ordinary course, White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said.

Onyango’s fate will play out behind closed doors before Judge Leonard Shapiro in Boston. Onyango’s lawyer, Margaret Wong of Ohio, successfully argued to reopen her case in December and have the proceedings closed to the public, according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees immigration courts.

Onyango declined two requests for interviews in recent days, and told a reporter to stop wasting her time.

“I’m not happy,” Onyango said, bundled up in a parka against the spring chill as she went to pick up her mail.

Wong has not responded to repeated requests for comment. But her spokesman told the Cleveland Plain Dealer in January that Onyango would present new evidence to back an asylum claim. Onyango has lost several attempts to fight deportation, said immigration court spokeswoman Elaine Komis. In 2003, a judge ordered her to leave the country, and she lost on appeal. She tried again, but an immigration judge ordered her deported in October 2004. Komis would not confirm whether Onyango had sought asylum before now because, she said, asylum cases are confidential.

Shapiro, an immigration judge since 1990, rejected 68 percent of asylum requests from 2002 to 2007, higher than the state and national averages, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. Asylum seekers must show that they fear persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a social group.

Still, immigration lawyers said she has a chance because she managed to get a hearing.

Onyango is a half-sister of the president’s late father, Barack Obama Sr., who was absent most of Obama’s life and who died in a car accident in 1982. The president met his aunt during a trip to Kenya in 1988 and included her in his 1995 memoir, “Dreams from My Father,” but has said he was unaware of her immigration issues.

Onyango, then a computer programmer, served as a translator, storyteller, and guide during his Kenya trip. She shared stories about his father’s struggles and her own. She said Obama’s father helped her get out of an abusive marriage when she was jobless and had no money.

She came to the United States in 2000 to find work and to seek a better life. Though she was ordered deported in 2004, she remained in the United States undetected until just before Election Day.

Aida Ramos, a neighbor, said Onyango is a humble, independent woman who suffers from back problems and is upset about the media attention over her case. She said Onyango quietly helps her neighbors, from counseling them on child-rearing to health issues.

“She’s a very nice lady who wants to live her life,” said Ramos. “Because she’s Obama’s aunt she’s getting all this attention she didn’t even want.”

Daily Nation Kenya:

Obama brother may have cholera

By ERIC OLOO and KNA

A step-brother of US President Barrack Obama is in hospital with a suspected case of cholera.

Mr Malik Abong’o Obama was taken to Siaya District Hospital in Kenya’s Nyanza province suffering from diarrhoea.

According to a doctor at the hospital who spoke to the Nation on condition of anonymity, it would take up to 18 hours to get the results of laboratory tests, and until then a cholera infection could not be ruled out.

But the Siaya District Medical Superintendent Jackton Omoto downplayed the matter, saying that Mr Abong’o was admitted to the hospital with ordinary diarrhoea. “People should not speculate on the matter since his case is a simple diarrhoea case like any other,” he said.

According to Dr Omoto, Mr Abong’o was taken to the hospital by police officers attached to their Nyang’oma Kogelo home in Siaya District after he complained of diarrhoea at midday on Wednesday.

When contacted on phone, Mr Abong’o declined to comment on his illness. He said he was not been pleased by the coverage his family had been getting from the local press.

His hospital admission comes almost a week after his farm worker, Daniel Namai, was admitted to hospital with cholera.

Mr Namai was discharged towards the end of last week, with doctors confirming that he had been diagnosed with cholera and successfully treated.

Mr Abong’o is one of the closest to the US president from the Kenyan branch of the Obama family. He was part of the family delegation to Barack Obama’s inauguration as US President in January.

Various hospitals

He also represented the family at the wedding of Barack and Michelle Obama in 1992 ad was one of the groomsmen.

If his case is confirmed, it will bring to 15, the number of people in the area admitted to various hospitals with cholera or related illnesses.

Dr Omoto added that this month alone, cholera cases have been reported in Malele Village, Kogelo Village in Karemo Division and Kamuok in Wagai Division in Siaya.

Siaya district diseases surveillance officer James Sande last week said that since the beginning of the month, a total of 14 cases have been reported in both Siaya and the neighbouring Ugenya district, which was recently hived off Siaya.

Ambira sub-district hospital in Ugenya district has reported five cases, with four confirmed, Nyathengo health centre has reported two cases and Siaya district hospital has reported seven cases, said Mr Sande.

The diseases surveillance officer said most of the cases reported had a history of movement from cholera prone areas of Kisumu West and Kisumu East districts.

He said that officers have been deployed to the areas to handle the cases and ensure that the disease did not spread.

Mr Sande said that they were offering first-line treatment, but added that more supplies of the drugs were required to handle the increasing number of patients.