28 Facts About Zeituni Onyango

Zeituni Onyango was the half-aunt of United States President Barack Obama; she was born into the Luo tribe in Kenya.

Zeituni Onyango became notable when her case was leaked in the final days of the 2008 US presidential campaign in which Barack Obama was the Democratic candidate, attracting international media attention.

In 2000, Zeituni Onyango entered the United States on a temporary visa to accompany her son to college; she remained past its expiration date.

Zeituni Onyango remained in South Boston, Massachusetts, where she lived in public housing, and retained legal representation to try to gain asylum.

Zeituni Onyango's case highlighted "the hot-button topic of illegal immigration" in a presidential race that had avoided it, as well as contradictory rules governing eligibility for public housing in Massachusetts.

Zeituni Onyango's case is often cited in light of immigration reform efforts of the Obama administration.

Zeituni Onyango was born in 1952 into the Luo tribe in Kenya, daughter of Onyango Obama and his third wife Sarah Onyango Obama.

Zeituni Onyango was a much younger half-sister to Barack Obama Sr.

Zeituni Onyango was born during the British rule of the Protectorate of Kenya.

Zeituni Onyango became educated and worked as a computer programmer at Kenya Breweries in Nairobi.

Zeituni Onyango was meeting with his father's side of his family for the first time.

Zeituni Onyango's parents had separated when Obama was two, and his time afterward with his father was limited to a month's visit in Hawaii when the boy was 10.

At the time, Zeituni Onyango gave Obama perspective on his father and his achievements, noting that, when Barack Sr.

Zeituni Onyango provided details about the complicated extended family from his father's four marriages.

Zeituni Onyango eventually rose to become senior economist in the Kenyan Ministry of Finance before political conflict with President Kenyatta destroyed his career.

Zeituni Onyango visited the United States multiple times since 1975, returning to Kenya each time until the 2000s.

Zeituni Onyango entered the US on a temporary visa in 2000 together with her son, who had been accepted at a college in Boston.

Zeituni Onyango moved into the apartment, run by Massachusetts authorities, after back surgery made walking difficult.

Wong said that Zeituni Onyango needed to stay for medical care because she could not walk.

Zeituni Onyango said that she received disability checks of up to $700 a month.

In 2002 Zeituni Onyango applied for political asylum in the United States citing violence in Kenya; a federal immigration judge eventually rejected the request and instructed her to leave the country.

Zeituni Onyango, along with other Obama family members, was born into the Luo tribe, Kenya's third-largest ethnic group.

The American Prospect noted in 2008 that Zeituni Onyango risked being persecuted and tortured in Kenya if she returned, and said that risk to her family members had increased, whether or not she was deported, because of her asylum case having been leaked and widely publicized internationally.

Zeituni Onyango had felt threatened in Boston, as people called and knocking on her door at all hours.

Zeituni Onyango's case resulted in a special nationwide directive within Immigration and Customs Enforcement requiring any deportations to be approved at the level of ICE regional directors before the USpresidential election.

Zeituni Onyango was granted a waiver of deportation on May 17,2010, by the United States, and became a legal resident.

Zeituni Onyango donated money to her nephew's 2008 presidential campaign, but these were considered illegal under US law.

Zeituni Onyango died at a care home on April 7,2014, in Boston, Massachusetts.