BOSTON , Massachusetts ( CNN ) -- A federal immigration judge says President Obama 's aunt , who has stayed in the United States illegally for years , will be allowed to remain in the country until at least next year . Judge Leonard Shapiro said Wednesday he would hear Zeituni Onyango 's political asylum case on February 4 , 2010 . Onyango , who is the half sister of the president 's late father , applied for political asylum in 2002 due to violence in her native Kenya , according to her spokesman , Mike Rogers . Onyango was a legal resident of the United States at the time and had received a Social Security card a year earlier . Onyango 's asylum request was turned down in 2004 , and she has been living in the U.S. illegally since then , after twice appealing and twice being ordered to leave . Wednesday 's hearing at the U.S. Immigration Court in Boston was closed to the media at the request of Margaret Wong , Onyango 's attorney . Lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security are defending an order to deport Onyango . White House spokesman Ben LaBolt says President Obama is staying out of the matter and that `` the president believes that the case should run its ordinary course . '' When the initial appearance was over , Onyango , wearing a red wig and dark glasses , was escorted through a side door of the courthouse to avoid news cameras staking out the main entrances . Onyango lives in public housing in South Boston and volunteers as a health advocate for people in her housing complex . She reportedly attended inauguration events for her nephew in January accompanied by her lawyer .
Judge : President Obama 's aunt can stay in U.S. until asylum case is heard in 2010 . Comment: Obama says aunt 's case `` should run its ordinary course ''