Zeituni Onyango - Immigration Status

Immigration Status

Onyango became the subject of widespread and international media attention in the final week of the 2008 U.S. presidential election in which Obama was the Democratic candidate. The impetus for the scrutiny was an article by the Associated Press, based on anonymous government sources, which reported that Onyango was living in the United States without valid immigration status, after being asked by an immigration judge to leave the country.

Although such an order from a judge can be appealed, it is not known if Onyango appealed the order. Onyango was an illegal immigrant.

Onyango's case resulted in a special nationwide directive within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requiring any deportations to be approved at the level of ICE regional directors before the U.S presidential election. In discussing Onyango's case, various media outlets have discussed some of the issues of immigrants, including political asylum cases.

MSNBC's Domenico Montanaro noted that thousands of people live for years in the US after receiving deportation orders. "Fugitive apprehension teams usually target suspects with criminal records before they go after simple immigration violators".

Of an estimated ten million illegal immigrants, The Washington Post noted that an estimated 550,000 persons that have been denied asylum continue to reside in the United States.