Obama's illegal immigrant uncle had valid license

BOSTON (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - The arrest of President Obama’s half-uncle in Framingham last week is raising new questions about the ease with which illegal immigrants can get driver’s license in Massachusetts.

Not only did Onyango Obama have a Massachusetts driver’s license when he was arrested last week, he also had a social security number.

State and federal officials were largely mum about how Obama, who had been ordered deported before and so is an illegal immigrant, got a social security number and a driver's license.

Obama has had a Massachusetts driver's license since at least 1992, according to the Registry of Motor Vehicles. An RMV spokesman says Obama presented a valid social security number and proof of residency, and that's why Massachusetts issued him a driver's license.

“If he has them, how many other people are able to access and have driver's licenses and social security numbers here that are here illegally, that may have come over the border,” said state Rep. Vinny deMacedo, a Cape Verdian immigrant who’s been an American citizen for 35 years.

“How does someone get a driver's license and a social security number that's here illegally? I think that's the biggest concern. We're coming up on the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11th and these are things we should have been able to crack down on,” the Plymouth Republican said.

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Washington D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for stricter enforcement of immigration laws, says there are many ways for illegal immigrants to obtain social security numbers and drivers’ licenses.

“You can pay someone for a number that belongs to somebody else or somebody's who's died. You can try to make up a number. Those are usually harder to use. Or if you're here legally for a brief period of time, you'll be issued a number and that will be yours forever even if you become an illegal immigrant or you get deported,” Vaughan said.

But someone like Obama who is here in Massachusetts illegally should “absolutely not” have a driver’s license, Vaughan said.

“Clearly the registry is not looking carefully enough at applicants. If someone like this can get a license, then who knows who else can get one?” Vaughan said.

An RMV spokesman would not respond to that criticism.

But FOX Undercover has learned, that, unlike some other states, Massachusetts does not check people's immigration status when they're getting or renewing their driver's license.

The US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement is also not talking, saying the agency does not comment on specific cases.

Court records show ICE ordered Obama deported at some point before his arrest last week, though it’s not clear when or why. A spokesperson for his immigration attorney said he didn’t have that information.

But it's possible, that he was here legally at some point, that his visa ran out, and he stayed anyway, a common scenario.

Story originated on MyFoxBoston.com