CHICAGO — Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Saturday that he didn’t know his aunt was living in the United States illegally and thinks that laws covering the situation should be followed.
The Associated Press found that Obama’s aunt had been instructed to leave the country four years ago by an immigration judge who rejected her request for asylum from her native Kenya. The woman, Zeituni Onyango (zay-TUHN on-YANG-oh), is living in Boston and is the half sister of Obama’s late father.
A statement given to The AP by Obama’s campaign said, “Senator Obama has no knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws be followed.”
An adviser to Republican John McCain’s campaign, Mark Salter, said he had no comment.
