Sources close to the federal government appear to have leaked that Obama’s Aunt, Zeituni Onyango, has been living in a Boston-area slum illegally. 

Brietbart.com has a piece here; from AP:

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Saturday he didn’t know his aunt was living in the United States illegally and believes 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 public housing 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.” Traveling with Obama in Nevada, campaign strategist David Axelrod declined to elaborate on the statement, but said: “I think people are suspicious about stories that surface in the last 72 hours of a national campaign.”

An adviser to Republican John McCain’s campaign, Mark Salter, said he had no comment on the reports about Obama’s relative. “It’s a family matter,” Salter said. The campaign said it was returning $260 that Onyango had contributed in small increments to Obama’s presidential bid over several months. Federal election law prohibits foreigners from making political donations. Onyango listed her employer as the Boston Housing Authority and last gave $5 on Sept. 19.

Information about the deportation case was disclosed and confirmed by two separate sources, one a federal law enforcement official. The information they made available is known to officials in the federal government, but the AP could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved in its release.

Onyango’s case – coming to light just days before the presidential election – led to an unusual nationwide directive within Immigrations and Customs Enforcement requiring that any deportations before Tuesday’s election be approved at least at the level of the agency’s regional directors, the U.S. law enforcement official told the AP.

Politico.com is also reporting the following:

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has written to Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff requesting an immediate investigation of the leak, which he deemed “deplorable” and said “was not the first leak of law enforcement information apparently designed to influence the coming presidential election,” referring to an ongoing investigation of voter fraud by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN. 

Kelly Nantel, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, would not comment on the leak or whether the agency was looking into it.

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John McCain seems to be staying far away from the issue, making no mention of Obama’s family in his two Virginia appearances this morning. His press aides have also remained quiet, issuing no statement about her immigration status.

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[Obama's chief strategist] Axelrod said Obama did not have a close relationship to Onyango.

The campaign will return $265 in contributions that Onyango made to Obama, citing prohibitions against foreign nationals donating to American campaigns.

Secondarily, as African Press International previously reported, ethiopianreview.com has now reported (similarly citing The Daily Nation) that the Obama family in Kenya has ceased all interviews until Wednesday, November 5. Ethiopianreview’s posting appears to very similarly parallel API’s.

Based on how the Obama campaign is reacting to this story, it would seem to circumstantially further the anonymous Obama staffer’s posting as well as continue to shed some light on exactly who is Sen. Barack Obama.

-Phil