Obama's uncle receives US residency after prolonged immigration battle

President Obama's uncle was granted legal residency by a federal immigration judge in Boston on Tuesday after facing threats of deportation. The judge cited a federal law that allows immigrants who have lived in the U.S. prior to 1972 to apply for residency.

Onyango "Omar" Obama, the 69-year-old half brother of the president's late father, has lived in the U.S. since he was 17, when he entered the country legally to attend an elite private school. He later failed to update his papers  and received three separate orders to leave the country in 1986, 1989, and 1992. Tuesday's hearing was set in motion after a 2011 DUI arrest.

Nearly 2 million undocumented immigrants have been deported since Obama took office, with 410,000 deportations occurring in the last year alone. As of June 2013, there were more than 8,000 immigration cases pending in Boston courts. Although President Obama and his uncle are not believed to have a close relationship, some argued that the familial connection allowed Onyango Obama to receive special treatment: