Contrary to a White House statement from 2011, President Barack Obama spent time with his Kenyan uncle in the 1980s before he entered Harvard Law School. The president acknowledged the relationship on Thursday, contradicting an earlier White House statement that Onyango Obama had "never met his famous nephew," the Boston Globe reported.
Onyango "Omar" Obama had lived in the United States illegally since the 1970s and was in court this week under threat of deportation. In testimony at Boston immigration court, he detailed when the president stayed at his Cambridge apartment for about three weeks back in the 1980s.
According to White House officials, the press office did not thoroughly research the president's relationship with his Kenyan uncle before giving the statement to the Globe more than a year ago.
"The president first met Omar Obama when he moved to Cambridge for law school," said White House spokesman Eric Schultz. "The president did stay with him for a brief period of time until his apartment was ready. After that, they saw each other once every few months, but after law school they fell out of touch. The president has not seen him in 20 years, has not spoken with him in 10."
The president and the White House did not interfere in the immigration case, officials said.
Onyango Obama was arrested in August of last year for drunken driving, revealing his outstanding deportation orders and White House connection. The 69-year-old had been working as a liquor store manager in Framingham, where he was arrested.
"I think I will call the White House," he said to an officer soon after his arrest.
He testified that the president stayed with him for three weeks in the 1980s before attending Harvard, noting that it was the right thing to do for family.
"It's a good thing to let your nephew stay with you," he said after the hearing, adding that in his family, "your brother's kids are your kids as well."
Immigration Judge Leonard I. Shapiro granted Obama legal residency on Tuesday based on what he called "good moral character" combined with a section of federal law allowing him to have a green card because he arrived prior to 1972.
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