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Obama's 'Uncle Omar' to face deportation hearing by end of year
President Obama's uncle, Onyango Obama, will face deportation to his native Kenya at an immigration hearing scheduled for Dec. 3, 2013, the Boston Globe reported Wednesday.
Onyango Obama had been living in the United States illegally for some 21 years before being arrested in August 2011 after he nearly rammed his SUV into a police car. Obama entered into a plea agreement in March 2012 that acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him of drunk driving.
A lawyer for "Uncle Omar" told the paper his client hopes that he will eventually be allowed to stay in the United States.
The scheduling comes just one day after President Obama called for broad immigration reform, including a path to citizenship, for the country's more than 11 million illegal immigrants. At a rally in Las Vegas, the president said "the time has come for common-sense, comprehensive immigration reform."
"Remember that this is not just a debate about policy," Obama continued. "It’s about people. It’s about men and women and young people who want nothing more than the chance to earn their way into the American story."
When Onyango was arrested the White House said then that the president was unaware that his uncle was in the United States illegally, and would not intervene on his behalf.
"We expect it to be treated — and I refer you to ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and DHS [the Department of Homeland Security] — like any other immigration case," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in September.
Some prominent Republicans — including former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) — have called for Obama's uncle to be deported in light of his DUI arrest.
"Well, yeah. He's here illegally. He's obviously broken the law. I don't know enough about the details of the case, but, God, he's been running around for how long now?," Brown said in an interview on the Howie Carr Show.
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