President Obama’s aunt is dead

Zeituni Onyango, the aunt of President Barack Obama who fought deportation after it was revealed she was an undocumented alien, has died in Boston. She was 61 years old.

Margaret Wong, Onyango’s immigration lawyer, confirmed that Onyango succumbed to complications from cancer at a rehabilitation hospital. She had been ill since January, reports the Boston Globe. 

“She’s been ill for quite some time. She didn’t like people to know, because she is so strong,” Wong said, according to the Boston Herald. “I don’t think she accepted she was dying. She just kept thinking she needs to go on.”

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement official tipped off a reporter that Onyango was undocumented four days before the 2008 election. According to documents obtained by The Huffington Post, the official gave leaked the information because it was “interesting,” “newsworthy” and because “the American public [had] a right to know.”

HuffPost’s Ryan J. Reilly and Elise Foley this in Sept. 2013:

The leak ultimately led to Obama’s aunt being allowed to remain in the country. A Republican-nominated immigration judge called the leak “reckless” and granted Onyango asylum in 2010. Obama mostly stayed out of the controversy, but conservatives quickly expressed outrage, particularly after it was revealed that Onyango lived in state-subsidized public housing and had donated to her nephew’s campaign. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said the decision to grant her asylum may have been due to “favoritism” simply because she was the president’s aunt.

In December 2009, Onyango, in rare glimpse into her mind, admitted she was troubled over being a political liability to Obama. Note that there are few, if any, photos of the aunt taken with her nephew.