The immigration odyssey of President Obama’s uncle, Onyango “Omar” Obama, is now over, as a federal immigration judge ruled yesterday that he can remain in the United States, where he has lived for the last 50 years, mostly as as an undocumented immigrant.
In his ruling, Boston immigration Judge Leonard I. Shapiro said Obama, 69, can get a green card and apply for US citizenship in five years unless the Department of Homeland Security appeals the case within 30 days. That is not likely to happen for the president’s uncle, who the president referred to as “Uncle Omar” in his memoir “Dreams from My Father” when he talked about retracing his roots and his 1988 trip to Kenya.
“Congratulations,” Shapiro said after he announced his decision. “Welcome to America.”
During the hearing, Obama mentioned his famous nephew when he was asked if he had relatives in the United States. He replied that he had two nieces; a sister, Zeituni Onyango, who appeared in court Tuesday; and his brother’s son, Barack Obama—who was not physically there but whose presence hovered over the entire proceeding.
“I do have a nephew,” Obama said slowly. “He’s the president of the United States.”
The uncle testified that the president had stayed with him at his Cambridge apartment for three weeks when he came to attend Harvard Law School in the 1980s—though the White House had previously said the president never met him.
“It’s a good thing to let your nephew stay with you,” he said after the hearing, adding that in his family, “Your brother’s kids are your kids as well.”
The White House did not respond to numerous requests for comment.
The uncle’s case sprang into the headlines in 2011 when he was arrested for drunk driving in Framingham, MA, and it was discovered that he had an outstanding deportation order from 1992.
The case caused controversy because some observers accused the government of giving him special treatment at the same time that President Obama is deporting record numbers of illegal immigrants. But the White House countered that the uncle was not receiving any special treatment.
Obama begged the judge during his testimony to allow him to stay here because he no longer knew Kenya, a country he left a half century ago.
“America is a land of opportunities, a land of chances,” Obama told the judge.
Other facts about Obama came out under questioning from his lawyer, Margaret Wong, such as the fact that he graduated from high school in Cambridge and earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Boston University—contradicting reports he never finished high school.
Obama said he renewed his student visa, but it expired in the 1970s and he never left, even though he was ordered deported several times.
Homeland Security prosecutor Jerry DeMaio pointed out that Obama knew he was supposed to leave the country when his student visa expired, but did not.
“So, you’ve been out of status for about 43 years,” DeMaio said.
“I would say so, yes,” Obama replied.
