President Barack Obama's uncle, Onyango Obama, agreed to a December court date in Boston to obtain permanent U.S. resident status. He is a Kenyan national who was ordered deported in 1992, is fighting to stay here under a federal immigration law that allows permanent residence for illegal aliens who entered the U.S. before 1972 and have demonstrated "good moral character." It is worth noting that he was arrested for drunken driving in 2011. His next court date is slated for December 3.
The strategy was revealed during a five-minute hearing in immigration court yesterday before Judge Leonard I. Shapiro. No preferential treatment will be given to Onyango, despite his famous brother.
"It tells us the case has very clear issues that will not likely take a tremendous amount of time to adjudicate. Very likely the judge will be able to render a decision the day he hears the case said," said Boston immigration attorney Desmond Fitzgerald.
Onyango got his hearing nearly a year before other applicants who came up in court yesterday. Some were pushed off as far in the future as September 2014.
"Everybody wants to stay in America," Obama's lawyer, Scott Bratton, told The Boston Herald. "Hopefully on Dec. 3, the judge will agree he's entitled to permanent residence in the United States."
