From: Lewrockwell.com
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The Obama administration is arguing in federal court that a homeschooling family from Germany should be deported back to their homeland, despite what they say is religious persecution. The German government prevented Uwe and Hannelore Romeike from teaching their five children at home instead of sending them to government-run schools, fining them and threatening to prosecute them if they don't obey.
When they took their three oldest children out of school in 2006, police showed up at their house within 24 hours, only leaving after a group of supporters showed up and organized a quick protest.
But their legal troubles were just beginning. Germany began fining the family, ultimately racking up a bill of more than 7,000 Euros ($9,000).
After they fled to the United States in 2010, the Romeike family initially were granted political asylum and found a home in Tennessee. They had a sixth child. But then U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appealed the asylum decision in 2012.
The federal Board of Immigration Appeals sided with the government despite a 2011 policy that gives the government broad discretion to pursue only high-priority cases.
ICE would not provide details about the case, or its reasons for pursuing the Romeikes.
'We do not comment on pending litigation,' ICE public affairs officer Brandon Montgomery told MailOnline.
The Home School Legal Defense
Association sued the US Department of Justice because a judge in that
agency's Executive Office for Immigration Review was responsible for the
decision.
A three-judge panel in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the case of Romeike v. Holder on April 23.
Michael Farris, that organization's founding chairman, told MailOnline in a telephone interview that the even if the federal government doesn't believe home schooling is a human rights issue that qualifies for political asylum, it can still let the family remain in the US and home school their children.
'The attorney general absolutely has the discretion to let these people stay,' Farris said of the devoutly Christian family.
'I really wonder what would've happened to the Pilgrims under this administration,' he said recently on the Fox News Channel.
Christopher Bentley, a Tennessee spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, said his agency was involved in the case early on.
'I can't talk about any asylum cases in particular,' he cautioned, 'but our office would have responsibility for initially determining whether they qualified for asylum in the United States.'
'We're the first step in establishing "credible fear," and then making a determination of whether they qualify for asylum in the United States. They have to claim that their government can't protect them from persecution because they're part of a specific group. That's the basis for any asylum grant.'
Farris has started a petition
to pressure the White House to let the family remain in the country. It has attracted more than
21,000 signatures toward a goal of 100,000, which must be reached by
April 18 in order to trigger a response from the Obama administration.
'Every state in the United States of America recognizes the right to homeschool,' the petition reads, 'and the U.S. has the world’s largest and most vibrant homeschool community. Regrettably, this family faces deportation in spite of the persecution they will suffer in Germany.'
An estimated 2 million children in the US are home schooled.
But the practice is illegal in Germany. An estimated 200 families teach their own children there anyway, even at the risk of fines, criminal prosecution and, in some cases, the loss of custody of their children.
Germany made school attendance
mandatory in 1918. During the Nazi era, that law was made even more
restrictive to ensure that young Germans were indoctrinated with Adolph
Hitler's national socialist ideology.
The German Supreme Court has ruled that it wants to 'counteract the development of religious and philosophically motivated parallel societies,' Farris explained. 'And that's a direct quote.'
'We want to give them a safe harbor. That's what asylum is for.'
That court ruled in 2007 that parents who home school their children can have their custody rights limited or eliminated entirely.
German families have sought refuge in both Canada and New Zealand in recent years, citing the same reasons as the Romeikes. Both cases were denied.
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. Attorney General Eric Holder could intervene and allow the Romeikes to remain in the country on humanitarian grounds, even if the Obama administration doesn't believe home schooling parents should qualify for asylum as a matter of principle.
Federal law allows refugees to
stay in the United States permanently if they can show they are being
persecuted for reasons including their religion or their membership in a
'particular social group.'
But in its argument against the Romeikes' asylum, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement called home schoolers too 'amorphous' to qualify.
'United States law has recognized the broad power of the state to compel school attendance and regulate curriculum and teacher certification' along with the 'authority to prohibit or regulate homeschooling,' ICE wrote.
When the Board of Immigration Appeals overturned the judge's initial grant of asylum, it based its decision on a case where the European Court of Human Rights ruled that 'the public education laws of Germany do not violate basic human rights.'
The Home School Legal Defense
Association's argument is that the federal government should not
substitute international law for US law.
'I think we have a really good case,' Farris said.
He believes there are likely only three possibilities that would explain why the Obama administration is working so hard to deport the Romeike family.
'It could be that the government is just anti-homeschooling, or anti-religious-freedom,' Farris said. 'Or perhaps they have some deal with the German government.'
'I don't know which it is, but none of the options is pretty.'
- A lawsuit against the Department of Justice will be heard April 23
- Federal government based decision on an international law ruling
- White House petition seeks 100,000 signatures in 30 days
- Germany fines parents for home schooling and sometimes revokes custody
- An estimated 2 million children in the US are home schooled
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The Obama administration is arguing in federal court that a homeschooling family from Germany should be deported back to their homeland, despite what they say is religious persecution. The German government prevented Uwe and Hannelore Romeike from teaching their five children at home instead of sending them to government-run schools, fining them and threatening to prosecute them if they don't obey.
When they took their three oldest children out of school in 2006, police showed up at their house within 24 hours, only leaving after a group of supporters showed up and organized a quick protest.
But their legal troubles were just beginning. Germany began fining the family, ultimately racking up a bill of more than 7,000 Euros ($9,000).
After they fled to the United States in 2010, the Romeike family initially were granted political asylum and found a home in Tennessee. They had a sixth child. But then U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appealed the asylum decision in 2012.
The federal Board of Immigration Appeals sided with the government despite a 2011 policy that gives the government broad discretion to pursue only high-priority cases.
ICE would not provide details about the case, or its reasons for pursuing the Romeikes.
'We do not comment on pending litigation,' ICE public affairs officer Brandon Montgomery told MailOnline.
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike fled Germany with
their five children because the government there criminalized home
schooling. A sixth child was born after they took up residence and
Tennessee and won permanent asylum on human rights grounds. The Obama
administration appealed and seeks their deportation back to Germany
The Romeikes teach their five school-age
children at home, including computer lessons along with reading,
writing, math, history, music and other subjects
A three-judge panel in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the case of Romeike v. Holder on April 23.
Michael Farris, that organization's founding chairman, told MailOnline in a telephone interview that the even if the federal government doesn't believe home schooling is a human rights issue that qualifies for political asylum, it can still let the family remain in the US and home school their children.
'The attorney general absolutely has the discretion to let these people stay,' Farris said of the devoutly Christian family.
'I really wonder what would've happened to the Pilgrims under this administration,' he said recently on the Fox News Channel.
Christopher Bentley, a Tennessee spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, said his agency was involved in the case early on.
'I can't talk about any asylum cases in particular,' he cautioned, 'but our office would have responsibility for initially determining whether they qualified for asylum in the United States.'
'We're the first step in establishing "credible fear," and then making a determination of whether they qualify for asylum in the United States. They have to claim that their government can't protect them from persecution because they're part of a specific group. That's the basis for any asylum grant.'
'We, the undersigned, respectfully request that
the Obama Administration grant full and permanent legal status to Uwe
and Hannelore Romeike and their children,' the petition reads. If it
attracts 100,000 signatures by April 18, it will trigger a response from
the administration
At the point
where the Romeikes were granted asylum, the Department of Homeland
Security was off the case. But after the Board of Immigration Review
heard the case and overturned the asylum ruling, DHS re-entered the
picture, since it's the agency charged with enforcing immigration
judges' decisions.'Every state in the United States of America recognizes the right to homeschool,' the petition reads, 'and the U.S. has the world’s largest and most vibrant homeschool community. Regrettably, this family faces deportation in spite of the persecution they will suffer in Germany.'
An estimated 2 million children in the US are home schooled.
But the practice is illegal in Germany. An estimated 200 families teach their own children there anyway, even at the risk of fines, criminal prosecution and, in some cases, the loss of custody of their children.
Uwe Romeike supervises one of her daughters
during a reading lesson in their Tennessee home. The Obama
administration seeks their deportation back to Germany, where home
schooling is illegal
The German Supreme Court has ruled that it wants to 'counteract the development of religious and philosophically motivated parallel societies,' Farris explained. 'And that's a direct quote.'
'We want to give them a safe harbor. That's what asylum is for.'
That court ruled in 2007 that parents who home school their children can have their custody rights limited or eliminated entirely.
German families have sought refuge in both Canada and New Zealand in recent years, citing the same reasons as the Romeikes. Both cases were denied.
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. Attorney General Eric Holder could intervene and allow the Romeikes to remain in the country on humanitarian grounds, even if the Obama administration doesn't believe home schooling parents should qualify for asylum as a matter of principle.
The school day in the Romeike household is a
conducted around the kitchen table, with Uwe making the rounds as her
children study. An advocacy group sued the federal government over their
deportation order, and a federal appeals court will hear the case in
April
But in its argument against the Romeikes' asylum, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement called home schoolers too 'amorphous' to qualify.
'United States law has recognized the broad power of the state to compel school attendance and regulate curriculum and teacher certification' along with the 'authority to prohibit or regulate homeschooling,' ICE wrote.
When the Board of Immigration Appeals overturned the judge's initial grant of asylum, it based its decision on a case where the European Court of Human Rights ruled that 'the public education laws of Germany do not violate basic human rights.'
A science curriculum is part of the Romeikes'
home schooling curriculum, including access to a microscope, laboratory
equipment and other things they would have if they attended traditional
schools. The German government forbids home schooling, and the US
government wants them deported back to their home country
He believes there are likely only three possibilities that would explain why the Obama administration is working so hard to deport the Romeike family.
'It could be that the government is just anti-homeschooling, or anti-religious-freedom,' Farris said. 'Or perhaps they have some deal with the German government.'
'I don't know which it is, but none of the options is pretty.'
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