# Obama's Aunt an Illegal Immigrant **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 1, 2008, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561 "2008-11-01T11:18:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/121 "2008-11-02T00:52:09Z")
> [@Carol\_Stream](#): > > Shouldn’t he be held accountable for accepting illegal campaign contributions from said relative? I’m… I’m having ACORN thread deja vu. Someone hold me. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/122 "2008-11-02T00:59:03Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Yes, it was. You’re right, my bad. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/123 "2008-11-02T03:37:14Z")
OK, a possibly, you know, relevant question…I’ve looked all over the place, but haven’t found any information about Ms. Onyango’s asylum case beyond that it was denied and she was ordered to leave the U.S. Has she, in fact, exhausted her chain of appeals? Because if not, then she has a legal right to remain in the U.S. unless and until she does so. Also, asylum decisions are supposed to be confidential, and I hope USCIS finds out who leaked the info, fires his/her ass, and prosecutes him/her as appropriate. I don’t know the particulars of her asylum application, obviously, but even when precedent asylum decisions are published, names are frequently redacted **because publishing an asylum applicant’s name can get people killed,** including relatives who have remained in the home country. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/124 "2008-11-02T03:42:06Z")
Good points. I think the reporters are probably assuming she has exhausted her appeals because it has been four years since the asylum denial. But it is indeed an assumption. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/125 "2008-11-02T04:00:01Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Good points. I think the reporters are probably assuming she has exhausted her appeals because it has been four years since the asylum denial. But it is indeed an assumption. Oh, appeals courts can take MUCH longer than that, though admittedly I have no idea what the processing times are right this minute in that jurisdiction. For that matter, in recent memory it’s taken far longer than that to get an initial adjudication of an asylum claim at then-INS. I’m curious to see whether any journalist bothers to pursue that angle - will post further info if I run across it. Eva Luna, Immigration Paralegal ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/126 "2008-11-02T04:15:57Z")
I suppose a news organization would have looked her up on PACER by now. I don’t know if that’s part of the normal investigative process or not. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/127 "2008-11-02T04:58:58Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > Also, asylum decisions are supposed to be confidential, and I hope USCIS finds out who leaked the info, fires his/her ass, and prosecutes him/her as appropriate. You’re talking about the same bunch of assholes that revealed the identity of a CIA agent and didn’t get in trouble for it. Do you really think they are going to care about some asylum seeker? If Obama wins the DOJ can’t do anything about it because it will look vindictive. Personally I don’t think enforcing the law is vindictive but lets face it Obama will have bigger things to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/128 "2008-11-02T06:13:26Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > My understanding is that overstaying a visa is not an actual crime. It is an administrative violation, and carries no criminal penalty. > > That said, I think it’s a _good_ thing that in this country even a soon to be President-elect’s relative has to follow procedure. We’re a nation of laws, after all. > > That said, if (when) she gets deported back to Kenya and reapplies for admission, I would certainly expect that this would help: > > Q. Closest relative currently living in the U.S.? > A. Barack Obama - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, D.C. Fair enough & well put. No one is above the law. As I say, I have a strong open-border bias which affects my view of the thing. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/129 "2008-11-02T08:02:42Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > I suppose a news organization would have looked her up on PACER by now. I don’t know if that’s part of the normal investigative process or not. One would hope, but then one would hope that someone would have mentioned the results, too. How hard is it to add one extra phrase? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/130 "2008-11-02T08:19:33Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > this story was the lead on tonight’s special edition of hardball on msnbc. Not much of a lead. Chris mentioned it, and then dismissed it as inconsequential. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/131 "2008-11-02T08:59:06Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Now, Obama must have known his aunt is not a citizen (though he denies prior knowledge of her illegal status). However, he might or might not have known she was contributing funds ($260 donated in small increments over several months) to his campaign, and the campaign workers who processed the donations might have had no knowledge of who she was. The statute does not say a candidate is personally charged with knowledge WRT all donations accepted by his campaign organization – which, in a presidential campaign, is always vast and rambling. And, since they’re returning the money, which the old lady must need a lot worse than Obama does, I expect any court would take a “no harm, no foul” attitude to this matter. Furthermore, the statute specifies no criminal penalties for violation (they might be set out elsewhere in the chapter, I haven’t looked). Thanks for the factual answer! So assuming Aunty didn’t tell Obama she was contributing, and used a US address and check or credit card, there’s no rational reason to consider her contribution to be scandalous for Obama or his campaign fund managers. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/132 "2008-11-02T10:37:52Z")
Why MUST Obama have known that his half-aunt is not a citizen? I have probably a dozen half-aunts, and I have no idea whether they’re citizens. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/133 "2008-11-02T10:50:38Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Why MUST Obama have known that his half-aunt is not a citizen? I have probably a dozen half-aunts, and I have no idea whether they’re citizens. Exactly. My step brother (who I know better than Obama knew his father) has a Polish fiance/wife. I have no idea if they are married or if she is in the US legally (or even if she is in the US). That Obama didn’t know makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/134 "2008-11-02T10:58:10Z")
I ain’t voting for Obama’s Aunt, I’m voting for Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/135 "2008-11-02T11:19:56Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > **THIS IS THE STUPIDEST ISSUE EVER!** Sorry, the stupidest issue was brought up by McCain last week. He demanded to see tape of a dinner Obama was at with Rashid Khalidi, to confirm what sort of “ties” he might have to a Palestinian radical… that McCain funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to a few years ago. Or was it Palin, who runs a state that taxes the crap out of oil companies so they can write checks directly to residents, calling Obama a socialist? Or was it McCain/Palin angry about Obama’s “associations”, when Palin’s husband was part of a secessionist political party, and McCain was so tight with Keating he had to be investigated to determine whether or not he was helping Keating commit crimes? At least this issue involves only Obama this time. Not that I can see what he was supposed to reasonably do, other than narc on the old lady and get her deported. ---
**Author:** ![wmfellows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@wmfellows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wmfellows)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/136 "2008-11-02T11:46:47Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > Exactly. My step brother (who I know better than Obama knew his father) has a Polish fiance/wife. I have no idea if they are married or if she is in the US legally (or even if she is in the US). That Obama didn’t know makes sense to me. Well, it would stand to reason that he knew she was not a citizen the last time she visited, and if I understand US immigration rules vaguely well-enough, there is no way for her to have converted to citizenship in proper time. However, I suppose that she could have, for all he knew, become a permanent resident, which I understand from reading postings here, is eligible to contribute. Of course the mere expectation that one trivially minor donor would be identified - I mean really a mere USD 250 is trivial - is a bit unhinged. Still it could be taken as symbolism of the charge that I have seen here that he is not screening his donations properly. That’s another matter, but more a political than a legal issue I should think. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/137 "2008-11-02T17:51:52Z")
> [@wmfellows](#): > > Of course the mere expectation that one trivially minor donor would be identified - I mean really a mere USD 250 is trivial - is a bit unhinged. Still it could be taken as symbolism of the charge that I have seen here that he is not screening his donations properly. That’s another matter, but more a political than a legal issue I should think. As has been repeatedly noted in this thread, there is no way to tell whether the person donating is a citizen or a permanent resident. Period. So unless Obama is personally checking each and every donation, there’s no reason to expect that his aunt would be noted as being anyone special. ---
**Author:** ![wmfellows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@wmfellows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wmfellows)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/138 "2008-11-02T20:25:39Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > As has been repeatedly noted in this thread, there is no way to tell whether the person donating is a citizen or a permanent resident. Period. So unless Obama is personally checking each and every donation, there’s no reason to expect that his aunt would be noted as being anyone special. Ah mate, if you read what I wrote, I called the expectation to identify each and every donor “unhinged,” take a bloody chill. But perhaps I should clarify. my comment was the issue was political - that is never mind the realm of the legal and the possible, in politics, making scandal out of exaggeration is fairly standard. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/139 "2008-11-02T20:30:05Z")
> [@wmfellows](#): > > Ah mate, if you read what I wrote, I called the expectation to identify each and every donor “unhinged,” take a bloody chill. > > But perhaps I should clarify. my comment was the issue was political - that is never mind the realm of the legal and the possible, in politics, making scandal out of exaggeration is fairly standard. Sorry, **wmfellows**. I’m in a major battleground state and I’ve heard enough lies about Obama in television ads to make my head about thisfar from exploding. “Honor”, my hairy pink ass. ---
**Author:** ![wmfellows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@wmfellows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wmfellows)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561/140 "2008-11-02T20:41:46Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Sorry, **wmfellows**. I’m in a major battleground state and I’ve heard enough lies about Obama in television ads to make my head about thisfar from exploding. “Honor”, my hairy pink ass. Ah, what are you bloody on about? I’m not opining on the adverts you’re seeing. Only that it is unsurprising that this might be turned into a political ploy. That’s not saying it is good, bad, fair or unfair. Merely an obs that the trivial and unimportant donation may be expected to be exploited as irrational symbolism of what I have read are accusations the Obama campaign is loose with accepting campaign donations. I have already read that this is perhaps an unfair accusation, but unfair in politics doesn’t mean the symbolism may not work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-an-illegal-immigrant/470561.md?page=6)