German Homeschooling Family Seeks to Stop Obama Admin Deportation Order

On Tuesday, the Romeike family of Germany will be represented by the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) in a hearing to stop their deportation by the Obama administration. 

The family sought, and was granted, asylum in the United States because they wanted to homeschool their children, an act that is largely illegal in Germany.

As Breitbart News previously reported, HSLDA launched a petition on the White House website that urged the Obama administration to grant permanent legal status to the family, who currently reside in Tennessee. 

In January of 2010, in a case that, for the first time, recognized homeschooling as a reason to grant asylum, Judge Lawrence O. Burman said that the right of parents to homeschool their children in Germany was among “basic human rights that no country has the right to violate.”

The Obama Department of Justice, however, appealed the Romeikes’ asylum case, arguing that homeschoolers in Germany do not classify as a persecuted group.

Earlier this month, HSLDA announced that the petition launched on the White House website reached the required 100,000 signatures and was continuing to grow.

On April 6th, the Romeike family appeared on Fox News Channel’s The Mike Huckabee Show. During the broadcast, Uwe Romeike said, “I think the most important thing about this is that the government sees that, not only are we interested in getting asylum, but the American people in general stand behind this case, and it’s all about freedom for parents to decide on their children’s education.”

Michael Farris, HSLDA founder and chairman who is representing the Romeikes, told Breitbart News on Monday:

The government’s case is entirely dependent on its ability to prove that parents do not have a fundamental human right to educate their children in values that are different from those approved by the government. Our own government is siding with Germany in contending that children are merely creatures of the state. The Romeikes contend that children are not creatures of the state but are members of a family.

On Tuesday morning, Farris tweeted, “In a few hours, I go before the judges at the 6th Circuit Court for the Romeike family. I feel confident knowing that God is on our side.”