| | Homeland Security may have outed Obama's aunt
 The Department of Homeland Security may have "outed" Barack Obama's aunt as an illegal alien, according to a report Sunday.
Zeituni Onyango, 56, the half-sister of Obama's late father, resides in Boston and was ordered to leave the United States by an asylum immigration judge in 2004.
Her immigration status was revealed Friday by the Associated Press, which cited two unnamed sources, one of them a "federal law enforcement official."
The Washington Post, however, revealed Sunday that the Department of Homeland Security has launched an internal investigation to see whether it violated its own privacy practices.
"Federal privacy law restricts U.S. immigration agencies from disclosing information about citizens and permanent residents, and DHS policy similarly limits disclosures about the status of legal and illegal immigrants," the Washington Post wrote. "Asylum-seekers are granted greater protection, because of the sensitive nature of their claims and the risks of retaliation."
Added the New York Times: "Some Democrats suggested that the timing of the disclosure could have been politically motivated, and some immigration lawyers said that for government officials to disclose information about an asylum applicant was unethical or perhaps illegal."
The investigation has been referred to the department's Office of Professional Responsibility.
"They are looking into whether there was a violation of policy in publicly disclosing individual case information," said Kelly Nantel, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "We can't comment on individual cases."
NBC News noted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would have been the most likely source of the leak, by way of having access to lists of "fugitive" illegal aliens.
"This is the agency that would be handling the case and have the most information about Obama's aunt, along with the immigration court, so ICE is the logical place to start," NBC's Domenico Montanaro wrote this morning.
"It is likely Obama�s aunt was on a list of fugitive aliens, just like thousands of other illegal immigrants," the reporter said. "But, obviously, people live for years in the US after receiving deportation orders. Fugitive apprehension teams usually target suspects with criminal records before they go after simple immigration violators."
Onyango had sought asylum citing violence in her native Kenya, where Obama's father spent most of his life. Obama's campaign returned his aunt's contributions to his campaign -- totaling $265 -- as non-US citizens are not legally allowed to donate to presidential campaigns.
"Given the information that has been brought to our attention, the contributions are being refunded," Ben LaBolt, an Obama campaign spokesman, said. "Senator Obama has no knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws be followed."
Some 550,000 persons that have been denied asylum continue to reside in the United States, the Washington Post reported.
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