Obama’s uncle detained by immigration officials

Onyango Obama, an uncle of President Obama, was arrested last week on suspicion of drunk driving in Framingham, Mass. and is now being held on an immigration detainer, authorities confirmed Monday to multiplemediaoutlets.

Obama, who is the half-brother of the president's late father, was arrested Aug. 24 after failing to completely stop at a stop sign and nearly causing a "cruiser to strike his sport utility vehicle." When police administered several sobriety tests, he allegedly failed them, according to reports.

And as he was being booked, guess who he wanted to call?

"I think I will call the White House," he stated, according to a police report.

[You can read the police reports here via the Boston Herald.]

Obama was charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and failure to yield the right of way. He pleaded not guilty Friday.

Obama, who is originally from Kenya, is being held without bail by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. An anonymous federal law enforcement source told CNN that Obama is not in the United States legally, and that immigration officials have previously ordered his removal from the country.

Michael Rogers, a spokesman for Cleveland immigration attorney Margaret Wong, who is representing Obama, confirmed to the AP that Onyango Obama is the half-brother of Obama's father as well as the full-blooded brother of the president's half-aunt, Zeituni Onyango.

Wong also represented Zeituni Onyango last year in her successful fight to win political asylum due to violence in Kenya. Onyango's battle to win asylum in the United States came to wide public attention in the final weeks of the 2008 campaign.

Massachusetts media outlets have noted that the state's handling of immigration and deportation laws have lately provoked heated debate in the wake of a fatal drunk driving accident allegedly caused by an illegal immigrant in Milford, Mass.