Obama's uncle ordered to leave U.S. in '92

BOSTON -- Onyango Obama, President Barack Obama's uncle, an illegal immigrant charged with drunken driving last week, was ordered by an immigration judge to leave the country almost two decades ago, a federal official said yesterday.

The official said a deportation order was issued against Onyango Obama in 1992. The official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release details on the case.

Obama, who's from Kenya, is the half brother of the president's late father. He has pleaded not guilty to operating under the influence of alcohol and is being held on an immigration detainer.

An immigration detainer, used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to identify people in jail who could be deported, is a request to another law enforcement agency to notify ICE before releasing the person from custody so ICE can arrange to take over custody.

The White House has declined to comment.

Obama, 67, was arrested last week in Framingham, where he has lived for years, about 20 miles west of Boston. He is the second Obama family member to be discovered living illegally here. His sister Zeituni Onyango, the president's aunt, won the right to stay last year after an earlier deportation order. -- AP