WASHINGTON: The White House is promising to reconsider a new rule requiring high-level approval before US immigration agents can arrest fugitives.
The Bush administration quietly imposed the unusual directive days before the election of Barack Obama, whose aunt has been living in the United States illegally.
The directive from the Homeland Security Department came amid concerns that such arrests might generate “negative media or congressional interest,” according to a newly disclosed federal document.
The directive makes clear that US officials worried about possible election implications of arresting Zeituni Onyango, the half-sister of Obama’s late father, who at the time was living in public housing in Boston. She is now believed to be living in Cleveland.
A copy of the directive, “Fugitive Case File Vetting Prior to Arrest,” was released to the AP just over two months after it was requested under the Freedom of Information Act. It does not mention President Obama or any members of his extended family.
The directive is still in place, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said. It originally was distributed on Oct. 31 by e-mail to immigration officers by an assistant director at the agency. Obama was elected president five days later. Nantel said the directive called for close supervision over any cases that could be high profile. She said it was not specific to Obama’s relatives.
The White House said late Sunday that the Obama administration was not briefed on why the directive was issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and will consider whether to overturn it.
“Like other rules and directives issued by the previous administration, it will be reviewed and revoked if it does not serve the best interests of the American people,” the White House told the AP. It said Obama “has not contacted any government agency regarding Ms. Onyango’s case, nor has any representative of the president.”
It was unclear what effect, if any, the directive has had on immigration enforcement across the US. Earlier this month 69 people were arrested during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweep in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Obama’s aunt was instructed to leave the country four years ago by an immigration judge who rejected her request for asylum from her native Kenya. The East African nation has been fractured by violence in recent years, including a period of two months of bloodshed after December 2007 that killed 1,500 people.
Despite the deportation order, Onyango traveled to Washington last week for her nephew’s inauguration.
News organizations observed her attending an inaugural ball at Washington’s Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, a historic luxury hotel, with her immigration lawyer, Margaret Wong.
Obama has said he did not know his aunt was living in the United States illegally and believes that laws covering the situation should be followed. The White House said late Sunday that Onyango’s lawyer contacted Obama’s lawyer to confirm Wong’s role in the case.
“They agreed at the time that the case should proceed in the ordinary course, with neither the president nor his representatives having any involvement,” the White House said.
Onyango, 56, has said she intends to fight the deportation order and hopes to remain in the United States. ICE has since said it is investigating whether any laws or rules were broken in the disclosure about Obama’s aunt.
