Braunstein Speaks

Deporting Auntie Zeituni

Barack Obama’s Kenyan “auntie” appealed Thurday night to an immigration judge not to throw her out of the United States. Zeituni Onyango, 57, who turned up at the hearing in a wheelchair, was expected to claim that her relationship to the president would make her a target in her homeland’s unstable political climate.

But the hearing at the U.S. Immigration Court in Boston, Massachusetts ended without an immediate decision in her second bid for asylum.

Just about a year ago, Auntie Zeituni turned up at President Obama’s inauguration after spending four years as a fugitive from justice when she ignored a Final Order of Deportation after the the court denied her request for asylum in 2005.

At that time I wrote of her case and assumed that to spare the new president embarrassment, Zeituni Onyango would simply disappear as far as the government was concerned.

“Auntie Zeituni” now has 30 days for the lawyers to write closing briefs. If that date is missed, the case could be continued until May 25th. Don’t hold your breath waiting for Zeituni to get on a plane back to Kenya.

From January 27th, 2009: “Arresting Auntie Zeituni.”

Among the other “firsts” that our new president brings, is that Barack Obama has an aunt who is a fugitive illegal alien. Zeituni Onyango is a Kenyan national who is now believed to be living in Cleveland.

The president’s aunt has ignored a final order of deportation issued after her request for asylum was denied by an immigration judge in 2005, and is therefore considered a fugitive from justice.

I spent quite a few years with the Immigration & Naturalization Service in the Miami District, and immigration is the most political of all issues at federal enforcement agencies—especially in immigrant-rich Miami.

The last major worksite-enforcement action in Miami was in 1997 at the Paragon Wholesale Flower warehouse. Somebody had tipped off the media, who met the immigration agents at Paragon just before closing time on a weekday afternoon.

One-by-one the employees—mostly women—came out after being cleared by the agents. Each one was tearfully and telegenically holding up her green card, showing that they were all lawful permanent residents, and not illegal aliens.

Of course, when clearing employees in any mass action, they are all put against a wall and searched, with the innocent being allowed to leave. The illegals—who were arrested on the spot—weren’t available to address the cameras.

The heat of the media-attended action, with all the crying women emoting on live television, proved too much for the INS, and no other mass worksite enforcement was ever again attempted in Miami.

The last worksite enforcement that I took part in was at a Chinese restaurant in Broward County. Under the new rules put in place, the action had to take place before the lunchtime trade would fill the restaurant.

Five immigration agents cleared the small restaurant, arresting two illegal aliens in the process, and making sure that there was a public affairs officer along in case the media showed up.

After the demise of the INS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement took over worksite actions, but they are still conducted with an eye toward political-correctness, and avoiding embarrassment to the agency.

When Barack Obama’s illegal aunt was discovered by the media during the presidential campaign, the Bush Administration took special care not to find the fugitive Auntie Zeituni.

Now President Obama has reversed Bush’s policy of requiring “special handling” of high profile cases—like the president’s aunt.

Somehow I doubt that Auntie Zeituni Onyango will ever again be found, despite her “high profile.” She did attend her favorite nephew’s inauguration in Washington last week, attending at least one inaugural ball, and staying at the luxurious Renaissance Mayflower Hotel.

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