For most immigrants facing possible deportation, life is about paperwork, waiting, hoping and perhaps praying. For Zeituni Onyango, the aunt of President Barack Obama, may just have been waiting long enough for her nephew to be elected president of the United States. Not that we suspect that Onyango is asking for any favor, of course, but her story is more interesting after Obama was elected. Originally a bid for asylum more than four years ago after arriving in the U.S. from Kenya, Onyango lost that battle and had to be deported. Instead she stayed and lived in public housing all the time.

But now she has a legitimate (and some would say too easy) reason not to go back to Kenya. Said Boston immigration lawyer Ilana Greenstein, ‘If they go back to Kenya, she goes much more in the spotlight, and that, in and of itself, could make her a greater risk. The chances of her going back and keeping a have gone low profile at this point. “For his part, Obama has repeatedly claimed that he was unaware that his aunt was in the country illegally and has often said that all laws must be strictly adhered to in dealing with his aunt.

Spokesman Ben LaBolt said: “The president believes that the case should turn the ordinary course, and neither he nor his representatives have a commitment.” Others have not bee so friendly. Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said: “The president’s moral authority has been affected by the situation of his aunt. Americans have a right to expect foreigners to our duty to respect, to leave when they are assumed and not thumb their noses at the legal system. “