President Barack Obama’s uncle Onyango Obama faced deportation back to his native Kenya, but was ruled eligible to receive a green card by a Boston judge.

Obama's Uncle Allowed To Stay In US

Unless the Department of Homeland Security appeals Judge Leonard I. Shapiro’s ruling, Onyango Obama will be able to apply for US citizenship five years after he gets his green card, reported the Boston Globe. Onyango Obama, 69, has been residing in the US illegally for 43 of the 50 years he's been here.

Onyango Obama’s citizenship was brought into question in 2011 when he was arrested for drunken driving in Framingham, Mass. At the time, authorities discovered that there was an outstanding deportation order for him that had been issued in 1992. Despite the arrest and 1992 order, the fact that Obama’s uncle came to the US prior to 1972 made him eligible to receive the green card. Furthermore, the 2011 arrest was his only, and he’s long paid taxes and been a contributing member of his community.

Onyango Obama Talks About Famous Nephew

“America is a land of opportunities, a land of chances,” Onyango Obama told the judge, claiming that having left Kenya at the age of 19 he is no longer familiar with the African country. When asked to name relatives of his, he listed his sister, two nieces and his nephew Barack Obama – his brother’s son. “I do have a nephew,” Obama said slowly. “He’s the president of the United States.”

The White House has not commented on Onyango Obama’s path to citizenship, but has previously stated that the POTUS have never met his uncle. Onyango Obama, however, has claimed that the president spent a few weeks at his old Cambridge apartment during his Harvard Law School days in the 1980s.

“It’s a good thing to let your nephew stay with you,” he said following the hearing, according to the Globe. “Your brother’s kids are your kids as well.”

Zeituni Onyango, Onyango Obama’s sister and the president’s aunt, was granted asylum in 2010 following a decade of efforts to remain in the country legally.

– Chelsea Regan

Get Uinterview's FREE iPhone App For Daily News Updates here.

Get the FREE Uinterview iPad app here and watch our videos anywhere.

For More Barack Obama News:

_{Obamas To Stay In Washington After His Term Ends}

_{Obama Heckled During Speech On Immigration, Calls For Lobbying Efforts}

_{President Obama Helps Catch A Fainting Karmel Allison During Healthcare Speech}

_{President Obama Gets A New Puppy: Introducing Sunny Obama}

_{Aviwe Mtongana, 15, Raps ‘Hell On Earth’ To Obama During His Visit To South Africa}