Tsk, tsk, tsk, Aunt of Obama! /sarcasmwithaneyeroll

Why all the hoopla over Obama's aunt (unsure if this is even true or not) being an "illegal alien?" Isn't there at least 10,000 illegal aliens added to the US population each day? I thought so. Does the lot of them attempt to gain citizenship status? Yes, they do. Is it a hard process? EXTREMELY. My husband has been trying for years to obtain citizenship status. It has been very stressful as well as disappointing. We have paid fee after fee to Homeland Security as well as filing all the appropriate paperwork. Still. He must be sent to Juarez, Mexico (which will cost our family A LOT of money) for an interview. He will be denied citizenship. We already know this for sure. Then he will remain in Mexico for at least 1 month before he can obtain a hardship waiver to return back to us. Think about it. He is the sole provider of our family. He will be gone for an entire month at the least. Even if he receives citizenship status, he isn't finished with the process. It took my sister-in-law 10 years to obtain status. They kept blowing her off and having her fill out random things over the years. Plus, it was costly for her to do, so she was saving up year after to to pay the fees. Obama's aunt (of course if all of this is even facts) would have to do the same thing; however, my husband and sister-in-law had/has it much easier. They are married to American citizens. If you are not, then you will have it even harder. So please. Stop and think before you continue to forward all of those bullshit emails and what-not. Just stop and consider what is going on and do some research. For once, LEARN YOURSELF something. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27481680/

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Saturday he didn't know his aunt was living in the United States illegally and believes that laws covering the situation should be followed. The Associated Press found that Obama's aunt had been instructed to leave the country four years ago by an immigration judge who rejected her request for asylum from her native Kenya. The woman, Zeituni Onyango, is living in public housing in Boston and is the half-sister of Obama's late father. A statement given to the AP by Obama's campaign said, "Senator Obama has no knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws be followed." Traveling with Obama in Nevada, campaign strategist David Axelrod declined to elaborate on the statement, but said: "I think people are suspicious about stories that surface in the last 72 hours of a national campaign." An adviser to Republican John McCain's campaign, Mark Salter, said he had no comment on the reports about Obama's relative. "It's a family matter," Salter said. The campaign said it was returning $260 that Onyango had contributed in small increments to Obama's presidential bid over several months. Federal election law prohibits foreigners from making political donations. Onyango listed her employer as the Boston Housing Authority and last gave $5 on Sept. 19. Onyango, 56, is part of Obama's large paternal family, with many related to him by blood whom he never knew growing up. Obama's father, Barack Obama Sr., left the future presidential nominee when the boy was 2, and they reunited only once — for a monthlong visit when Obama was 10. The elder Obama lived most of his life in Kenya, where he fathered seven other children with three other wives. He died in a car crash in 1982. Obama was raised for the most part by his mother and her parents in Hawaii. He first met his father's side of the family when he traveled to Africa 20 years ago. He referred to Onyango as "Auntie Zeituni" when describing the trip in his memoir, saying she was "a proud woman." Obama's campaign said he had seen her a few times since that meeting, beginning with a return trip to Kenya with his future wife, Michelle, in 1992. Onyango visited the family in Chicago on a tourist visa at Obama's invitation about nine years ago, the campaign said, stopping to visit friends on the East Coast before returning to Kenya. She attended Obama's swearing-in to the U.S. Senate in 2004, but campaign officials said Obama provided no assistance in getting her a tourist visa and doesn't know the details of her stay. The campaign said he last heard from her about two years ago when she called saying she was in Boston, but he did not see her there. Few details from case Onyango's refusal to leave the country would represent an administrative, noncriminal violation of immigration law, meaning such cases are handled outside the criminal court system. Estimates vary, but many experts believe there are more than 10 million such immigrants in the U.S. The AP could not immediately reach Onyango for comment. When a reporter went to her home Friday night, no one answered the door. A neighbor said she was often not home on weekends. Onyango did not immediately return telephone and written messages left at her home. Onyango was instructed to leave the country by a U.S. 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 Onyango's case. The matter was referred to the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General and the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility to determine if there were violations in publicly disclosing an individual's information, NBC News reported. It was unclear why her request was rejected in 2004. A spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Kelly Nantel, said the government does not comment on an individual's citizenship status or immigration case. (more on website)