Tuesday, March 4, 2014

German Home-schoolers Lose Case - But Won't be Deported

In the deep south, they would say-

The blind man saw this comin' a mile away.


I, however, will freely admit that I did not expect the final outcome of the Romeike family's horrific odyssey of loss of custody, flight, asylum, contesting of that asylum, and repeated losses in the US court system and possible ensuing deportation.

But I at least should have been able to suspect that it could have turned out this way

With hindsight being - as they say - 20/20, now it all makes sense.

Germany did not appear to have clamored to have these people sent back to the Fatherland. Although they well have feared the backlash from US supporters who rightly vowed to engage in civil disobedience(*at bottom) to prevent any moves to deport the Romeike's, the Obama administration may even not have had a serious problem with allowing them to remain in the US.

The main point is simple-

Obama got what he wanted. US courts effectively ruled that losing custody of one's children for defying a German law that forbids home-schooling does not  amount to persecution. 

The Romeike's were nothing more than a pawn in a chess game that Obama won - and decisively so. 

Now that in the US there is now an implicit (if not explicit- I have not read the final ruling) legal precedent that home schooling is not a human right. Home-schooling families, and those who may be considering that option to educate their children, can expect an ever-increasing amount of rules, restrictions, and regulations to come down the pike. Parents will find it harder to keep their children away from the garbage that is force-fed to the vast majority of K-12 students in the United States.



"On Tuesday, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) announced a drastic turnaround on the part of the federal government: The German Romeike family, which sought asylum in the United States to home-school their children, will now be allowed to stay in America.

“The Romeikes can stay!!!” the HSLDA announced on its Facebook page.

Just one day ago, the Romeikes thought they would be forced to return to Germany, where the state could take custody of their children because of their decision to home-school. At a minimum, they would face increasingly harsh fines for violating Germany’s compulsory attendance law.

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike have been fighting to remain in the United States since 2008, when they fled to Tennessee, but the Supreme Court declined to hear their appeal for asylum on Monday.

post on the HSLDA’s Facebook wall signed by the organization’s chairman, Michael Farris, explains the change:

'Today, a Supervisor with the Department of Homeland Security called a member of our legal team to inform us that the Romeike family has been granted “indefinite deferred status”. This means that the Romeikes can stay in the United States permanently (unless they are convicted of a crime, etc.)

This is an incredible victory that can only be credited to our Almighty God.

We also want to thank those of who spoke up on this issue–including that long ago White House petition. We believe that the public outcry made this possible while God delivered the victory'........


........ Uwe Romeike commented in a statement on the HSLDA website: “We are happy to have indefinite status even though we won’t be able to get American citizenship any time soon. As long as we can live at peace here, we are happy. We have always been ready to go wherever the Lord would lead us—and I know my citizenship isn’t really on earth.”

The family has claimed Germany’s laws violate international human rights standards, but the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded last year that U.S. law does not grant asylum to “every victim of unfair treatment.”

When the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, the HSLDA said the “last judicial hope for the family” had been exhausted. The 24-hour turnaround by the U.S. legal system was highly unexpected..........."













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