Zeituni Onyango - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Onyango visited the United States multiple times since 1975, returning to Kenya each time until the 2000s.[9] She came on a temporary visa in 2000 along with a son who had been accepted at a college in Boston.[17] Commercial databases show she received a Social Security card in 2001, indicating she was legally present in the country at that time.[7]
Onyango was an asylum seeker when she applied for public housing in 2002.[1][6] She moved into the apartment, run by Massachusetts authorities, after back surgery made walking difficult.[6] A BHA official said that the agency was never notified of a deportation order that had been issued[18] (A 1977 federal consent decree, resulting from a class action lawsuit in Waltham, prohibits state officials from denying public housing to illegal immigrants).[6][19] Beginning in 2003 she lived in a South Boston public housing project, according to Boston Public Housing Authority (BHA) officials.[3] William McGonagle, deputy director of the Authority, stated Onyango did a good job as a public health advocate on behalf of the Boston Housing Authority.[3][20] Described as a frail woman who walked with a cane, she lived in flat normally set aside for people facing physical hardship.[1]
As of 2008 Onyango worked as a volunteer computer systems co-ordinator for the Experience Corps, a program in which adults over 55 mentor children in their communities.[1] McGonagle added "We have no affirmative responsibility I am aware of to further check on their status after they are initially deemed to be eligible."[21]
Onyango's immigration lawyer since 2008, Margaret Wong, stated Onyango could be barred from reentering for up to ten years if she left the US now.[22] Wong stated that Onyango needed to stay for medical care because she could not walk.[22]
Onyango was granted political asylum in 2010. Interviewed for the first time since then, in September 2010, by reporter Jonathan Elias on WBZ-TV in Boston, she described living in a homeless shelter for two years in Boston while waiting for her public housing apartment. She stated that she received disability checks of up to $700 a month. She made no apologies for overstaying her visa.[23][24]
"I don't mind," she said. "You can take that house. I can be on the streets with homeless people. I didn't ask for it. They gave it to me. Ask your system. I didn't create it or vote for it. Go and ask your system."
—Zeituni Onyango, WBZ-TV, September 21, 2010 reported and quoted from the WBZ-TV interview
