Lawyers for aunt of Obama hopeful
Strategy in place for hearing today on deportation
Lawyers for Zeituni Onyango, the Kenyan aunt of President Obama, say they will present new evidence in federal court today seeking to reverse a 2004 deportation order and allow her to stay in the United States.
The lawyers would not discuss their strategy, such as whether they would focus on her numerous health problems, political unrest in Kenya, or another issue.
The half-sister of Obama's late father had applied for asylum in the past but lost. Since then, she has been living illegally in the United States, most recently in a South Boston public housing development.
The former computer programmer, whom the president called Auntie Zeituni in one of his books, is battling a neurological condition and back problems that require her to walk with a cane.
"They are optimistic that their strategy is going to work," said Mike Rogers, a spokesman for lawyers Margaret Wong and Scott Bratton of Cleveland, who are Onyango's attorneys on the case. "They're optimistic that they can present a good case for her."
US Immigration Judge Leonard Shapiro is scheduled to preside over the case behind closed doors in a Boston courtroom today, after Wong persuaded the court to cloak the proceeding.
Asylum seekers must show that they fear persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a social group.
Onyango's immigration status came to light shortly before the presidential election last year, and she left Boston for Cleveland temporarily to stay with relatives. She had arrived in the United States in 2000 seeking a better life and later applied for asylum.
In 2003, a judge ordered her to leave the country, but she stayed. Later that year, she tried again. But she lost the appeal, and an immigration judge ordered her deported in October 2004.
Instead, Onyango remained in Boston and lived in state and federal public housing. Critics have denounced her for defying deportation and for living in public housing while scores of families are on waiting lists.
Her lawyers successfully argued to reopen her case in December.
The case is widely seen as a test for Obama on immigration enforcement. The president, who said he had been unaware of her immigration problems, has vowed to stay out of the case.
Maria Sacchetti can be reached at msacchetti@globe.com. 
