By Xinhua,
Washington : US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama didn’t know his aunt might be living illegally in the country, his campaign spokesman has said.
“Senator Obama has no knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws (should) be followed,” campaign spokesman Bill Burton told reporters Saturday.
US media reported that a court refused to accept four years ago the asylum application of Zeituni Onyango, 56, half-sister of Obama’s Kenyan father.
However, Onyango has continued to live in a public housing complex in South Boston.
Onyango’s refusal to leave the country would be an administrative violation, not a criminal matter, according to reports.
Meanwhile, Democrat leader John Conyers of Michigan has asked the Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff to investigate whether someone had leaked the information to the media in an effort to malign Obama.
Burton, however, did not mention whether Obama has been in touch with his aunt, whom he described in his book “Dreams from My Father”.
It is not clear when Onyango arrived in the US. She once told the media that she travels back and forth between the US and Kenya.