Obama’s aunt makes case to stay in the US

“She’s arguing she could be a target of tribal violence,’’ said Margaret Wong, the attorney, before stepping into a deportation hearing yesterday morning on the third floor of the John F. Kennedy Federal Building in downtown Boston.

Onyango, who suffers from the autoimmune disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome, is also petitioning to stay here because of her medical condition, Wong said.

Onyango is the paternal aunt of President Obama.

After about five hours of testimony by Onyango and two medical doctors appearing on her behalf, Judge Leonard I. Shapiro continued the case, requesting both Onyango’s lawyers and immigration lawyers to submit closing argument briefs in 30 days.

After that time, Shapiro could render a decision on the case.

If he does not, the case will continue until another hearing on May 25, when a decision may come.

Onyango stepped out of the courthouse yesterday afternoon smiling. She declined to comment as she was ushered into a black sport utility vehicle and driven away.

Wong said the hearing went well.

“She was very honest, very to the point. . . . She really wants to stay in America.’’

Wong said her client is “doing very well, she’s just very tired now because she got up really early to prepare for this.’’

Obama has not played a role in any of the proceedings, said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, who referred to it yesterday morning in a daily press briefing.

“The president learned of this information, as you probably know, on the campaign trail, I think in early November of 2008 when it came out,’’ he said. “We said then and we would continue to say that everybody in this country should and must follow the law. We have not been involved at all in that hearing, and we’ll let the law play out as it should.’’

Onyango’s status as an illegal alien was revealed in October 2008, days before Obama was elected.

She is a member of the Luo tribe, as was the president’s father, Barack Obama Sr., who was killed in a 1982 car crash.

The Luos are in the minority in Kenya, which has historically been dominated by the Kikuyu tribe.

Onyango, 57, has been living in Boston and has been under a deportation order since 2004 when her request for asylum was denied by a US Immigration Court judge. The president met his aunt during a trip to Kenya in 1988 and included her in his 1995 memoir, “Dreams from My Father.’’

Onyango helped care for the president’s half-brothers and half-sister while living with Barack Obama Sr. in Kenya. She moved to the United States in 2000.

Yesterday, Onyango arrived at the John F. Kennedy Federal Building in downtown Boston at about 8:20 a.m., using a wheelchair.

She wore black slacks, a red turtleneck, and a white-and-black checkered blazer. She held a black cane on her lap.

Onyango testified for about two and a half hours. Minutes after she finished, she walked out of the courtroom, using the cane, with Wong alongside her. The pair returned about five minutes later.

David Stone, a medical doctor, then testified on Onyango’s behalf until about 1 p.m., when a lunch break was called. When the hearing resumed at about 2 p.m., another medical doctor, Robert Weiss, testified on her behalf.

Onyango is disabled, and has had to learn how to walk again after being paralyzed for more than three months because of Guillain-Barre syndrome.