WP: Aunt Disclosure Broke Privacy Policy!
From those champions of the freedom of information at the Washington Post:
Disclosure About Obama’s Aunt May Have Violated Privacy Policy
By Spencer S. Hsu and Judy Rakowsky
Sunday, November 2, 2008; A07
The Department of Homeland Security is investigating whether its privacy policy was violated after a news organization reported that an aunt of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama is an illegal immigrant from Kenya, officials said yesterday.
The woman, Zeituni Onyango, 56, lives in a public housing complex in Boston and is the half sister of Obama’s late father, who spent most of his life in Kenya before dying in a car accident in 1982.
The Associated Press reported late Friday that Onyango was denied asylum by an immigration judge and that she was instructed to leave the United States in 2004. The AP cited two unnamed sources, identifying one as a federal law enforcement official.
Federal privacy law restricts U.S. immigration agencies from disclosing information about citizens and permanent residents, and DHS policy similarly limits disclosures about the status of legal and illegal immigrants. Asylum-seekers are granted greater protection, because of the sensitive nature of their claims and the risks of retaliation.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the matter has been referred to the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility and its parent department’s inspector general.
“They are looking into whether there was a violation of policy in publicly disclosing individual case information,” ICE spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said. “We can’t comment on individual cases.”
After Obama’s campaign announced yesterday morning that it will refund a small number of contributions made by Onyango, two government officials confirmed that Onyango had sought asylum, citing violence in her native Kenya. One federal law enforcement official confirmed that a federal administrative judge ruled in 2004 she was not legally entitled to be in the United States and that a final order was entered for her deportation.
While such denials can be appealed, cases are generally decided within a year or two, according to federal statistics. Of about 12 million illegal immigrants estimated to be in the United States, about 550,000 are “fugitive aliens” staying in violation of deportation orders.
Reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show Onyango gave Obama’s campaign a total of $265, including several contributions of $5 and $25. The latest recorded contribution, of $5, was on Sept. 19. Only U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents, known as green cardholders, can legally contribute to federal presidential campaigns…
A campaign source said Obama provided Onyango no assistance in obtaining a tourist visa or housing, or in her immigration case.
In an interview with the Times of London, which first reported Onyango’s presence in Boston and her campaign contributions, Onyango said she had traveled to and from the United States since 1975. Commercial databases indicate she received a Social Security card in 2001, indicating she was legally present and authorized to work at that time.
Onyango was not at her state-subsidized West Broadway residence yesterday in South Boston, and no one answered her telephone.
William McGonigle, deputy director of the Boston Housing Authority, said Onyango applied for public housing in 2002 and was approved in 2003 as an eligible noncitizen. She was paid a small stipend for volunteering as a resident health advocate starting in December 2007, he said.
McGonigle said that housing officials were not notified of her deportation order and that they followed all federal rules and laws in providing her stipend. He said housing officials were not aware that Onyango was related to Obama until the Times of London phoned last week.
What chutzpah, even for the despicable Washington Post.
“Privacy policy”?
How many national security secrets of vital importance has The Post betrayed for a headline? Or, worse, to help our nation’s enemies?
How many private citizens like Joe The Plumber have had their privacy destroyed by our watchdog media — simply to protect the DNC/media’s agenda?
And to be clear.. “policy” not Law.
I could care less if the woman is here personally, except that she is so illegally. The law is the law. If it is wrong, fine.. then it needs to be changed. I suspect however this is beating a drum no one cares to hear.
As was pointed out elsewhere, she wasn’t just an illegal immigrant, she has already been served with a deportation notice. Which kind of makes her a felon. Doesn’t that relieve some of the “privacy” she’s entitled to?