Obama’s aunt is in the U.S. illegally

Barack Obama’s aunt, a Kenyan who lives in public housing in Boston, is in the United States illegally after an immigration judge rejected her request for asylum in 2004, the Associated Press has learned.

Zeituni Onyango, 56, referred to as “Aunti Zeituni” in Obama’s memoir, was instructed to leave the United States by an immigration judge who denied her asylum request, a person familiar with the matter told the AP. This person spoke on condition of anonymity because no one was authorized to discuss the case.

Information about Onyango’s case was disclosed and confirmed by two sources, one a federal law enforcement official. The AP could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved in its release.

Onyango, who could not be reached for comment, is not a relative whom Obama has discussed in campaign appearances. Unlike Obama’s father and grandmother, she has not been part of the public discussion about his personal life.