Zeituni Onyango, aunt of President Obama, has been granted political asylum from the United States

An immigration judge in Boston has granted Zeituni Onyango, half-sister of Obama's late father, asylum in the United States, her lawyers said late Monday.

The move will mean she can stay in the country, and ultimately become a citizen.

"She was very, very happy," her lawyer, Margaret Wong, said at a news conference in Cleveland.

Onyango, who came to the United States from war-torn Kenya in 2000, remained here and applied for political asylum. The basis for her asylum request has never been made public, but Wong said last year that Onyango first applied for asylum "due to violence in Kenya."

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Onyango illegal status was revealed in 2008, shortly before Obama's presidential victory. The President said he was never aware of her status.

SOURCE: The New York Daily News