WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama didn't know his aunt might be living illegally in the United States, as media outlets are reporting, his campaign said Saturday.
The half-sister of Sen. Barack Obama's Kenyan father reportedly lives in this complex in South Boston.
"Sen. Obama has no knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws [should] be followed," campaign spokesman Bill Burton said.
According to The Associated Press, a court refused four years ago to accept the asylum application of Zeituni Onyango, 56, the half-sister of Obama's Kenyan father. However, she has continued to live in a public housing complex in South Boston, AP reported.
Onyango's refusal to leave the country would be an administrative violation, not a criminal matter.
CNN has not been able to independently verify her immigration status. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said the agency "is prohibited from commenting on any individual's status."
Democratic U.S. Rep. John Conyers of Michigan fired off a letter asking Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to investigate whether someone leaked the information to the media in an effort to damage Obama.
"The AP reports that it 'could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved,' a very disturbing (suggestion) indeed," read the letter from Conyers, who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
The Department of Homeland Security had no immediate response to the letter.