Christian Family Faces Prosecution for Homeschooling if Deported Back to Germany
A Christian family is asking the Biden administration to intervene in their deportation after they lived in the USA for 15 years seeking asylum from prosecution in Germany. The Romeikes had fled Bissingen, Germany in 2008 after being threatened with prosecution for homeschooling their five children. Homeschooling in Germany is tightly regulated and only allowed under certain circumstances.
The Romeike family has been able to live in the US for the last years under an 'indefinite deferred action status', but now they were told in September 2023 that they must return to Germany.
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike had decided to homeschool their children after they found anti-Christian messages or other content provided by the German school, which conflicted with their Christian religion back in 2000.
“So that’s what everybody does unless they are like the Romeikes and have a conviction that they actually want to raise their kids according to their own conscience, their own religion, their own faith structure. The German philosophy doesn’t permit that,” commented Kevin Boden, an attorney with the Home School Legal Defense Association (US) who represents the Romeikes.
UPDATE: The Romeike family that faced deportation after making a home for themselves in East Tennessee for the past 15 years has been granted a one-year stay of deportation (they deportation has been postponed one year). The family fled to the U.S. after being fined for homeschooling their children in their mother country. Initially, an immigration judge found the Romeike family's asylum claim appropriate. Five years later, however, their asylum claim was denied, with authorities claiming they weren't persecuted.
The Romeike family, who now has seven children, including two US citizens, continues to push for a long-term solution to allow their permanent stay in the United States.
Sources for update: Fox News, Catholic News Agency, The Christian Post, Ground News
Source: DailyMail, Catholic News Agency, National Review
Image from National Review (From a Youtube Screenshot)