Obama's Aunt Zeituni Onyango Dead at 61 - East Idaho News
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Obama’s Aunt Zeituni Onyango Dead at 61

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121212 PresidentObama?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1397032940733Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(BOSTON) — President Obama’s aunt, Zeituni Onyango, who lived in the U.S. illegally for years before being granted asylum, has died of unknown causes. Onyango was 61.

Attorney Margaret Wong, who worked on Onyango’s immigration case, described her client, who lived in Boston, as “a fine, tall, elegant woman who was very good with computers.”

Onyango, the half-sister of the president’s Kenyan father, came to the U.S. in 2000, was denied asylum in 2002 and ordered deported in 2004.

However, she continued to live in Boston and won asylum in 2010 after convincing a judge that she would be in grave danger if returned to her native Kenya.

She was also related to the president’s uncle, 69-year-old Onyango “Omar” Obama, who lives in Framingham, Mass.

Late last year, a judge determined Onyango Obama could remain in the country he’s called home since 1963 even though the native Kenyan was twice ordered deported during the 1980s, a case he lost on appeal in 1992.

For years, Onyango Obama flew under the radar until 2011 when he was arrested for drunken driving.

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