Zeituni Onyango, President Barack Obama’s aunt, continues to defy immigration law by remaining in the United States illegally. Worst yet, Auntie Obama is actually being subsidized by American taxpayers.

The Boston Herald reports:

The illegal alien aunt of President Obama could learn this week whether she can put down roots in Boston – or start packing her bags for a one-way trip back to Kenya.

And, save for U.S. Immigration Court Judge Leonard I. Shapiro, she’ll know before anyone else. Zeituni Polly Onyango has persuaded Shapiro to bar the public from her removal proceeding Thursday morning at the John F. Kennedy Federal Building, though it’s unclear why.

Here’s a hint: An open proceeding would embarrass her nephew, who is supposed to be ensuring that laws are carried out and the country protected. But anyway…

“I assume (Shapiro) thought it would be a three-ring circus. She’s the aunt of the president of the United States – the most famous man in the world,” said Mike Rogers, spokesman for the Ohio law firm defending Onyango, 57, against the Department of Homeland Security.

And we can’t have The One, His Holiness of Hope’N'Change, involved in his aunt’s immigration court proceedings. The Obama family, even those subsidized by taxpayers, must be protected from media attention. Except when it benefits them. Then the attention is just fine.

Shapiro could not be reached for comment. However, Lauren Alder Reid of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, which speaks for the court, said closed hearings are “not uncommon.”

Reid said removal proceedings are sometimes held behind closed doors in cases of political asylum – such as Onyango is requesting – domestic abuse and security.

“The immigration judge will hear the merits of the case from both parties,” Reid said yesterday. “The judge may make a ruling from the bench, but there’s no guarantee.”

Asylum? She’d be sent back to Kenya. Granted, it may not be New York City or Boston, but we’re not talking Cuba or North Korea here. That excuse didn’t fly back in 2002, when her asylum appeal was denied, and it shouldn’t fly now. But it just might with her nephew in charge.