Obama Quietly Benefits from Little-Noticed New Regulation Requiring "High Level" Approval for Arrest of Illegal Alien Fugitives; Policy Enacted to Shield His Aunt from Deportation

As an outgoing gift to Obama, President Bush actually promulgated this rule. His idea of courtesy, I suppose. But we're not bound by that.

Bush did it, yes, but only as a favor to Obama -- which hardly requires Obama to accept the favor. And certainly we don't need to accept it.

His aunt's illegal. Boot her, or get her paperwork in order.

The Homeland Security Department still is requiring high-level approval before federal immigration agents can arrest fugitives, a rule quietly imposed by the Bush administration days before the election of Barack Obama, whose aunt has been living in the United States illegally.

The unusual directive from the Homeland Security Department came amid concerns that such arrests might generate "negative media or congressional interest," according to a newly disclosed federal document obtained by The Associated Press.

The directive makes clear that U.S. officials worried about possible election implications of arresting Zeituni Onyango, the half-sister of Obama's late father, who at the time was living in public housing in Boston. She is now believed to be living in Cleveland.

A copy of the directive, "Fugitive Case File Vetting Prior to Arrest," was released to the AP just over two months after it was requested under the Freedom of Information Act. It does not mention President Obama or any members of his extended family.

Needless to say, while this rule was a personal gift from Bush to benefit Obama's aunt, it complicates and hampers the arrest of fugitives from immigration law; all such requests now require "high level" approval.

Are we going to hamper immigration enforcement for four to eight (or, in Obama's reckoning, eight to ten) years just to help his auntie evade the law?

posted by Ace at 05:37 PM

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