The Romeike family was forced to flee Germany in 2008, because they chose to homeschool. Germany does not recognize the fundamental right of parents to homeschool their children, and only permits the practice in very narrow circumstances.
When Uwe and Hannelore Romeike decided in 2006 that God was calling them to homeschool their five children, Germany responded swiftly by leveling fines that exceeded the family’s income, forcibly removing the children from the home to take them to school, and threatening to remove the children from the home permanently.
So the Romeikes fled to America, where we helped them apply for asylum. In 2013, after five years of legal battles and a growing public outcry, the United States government granted the Romeikes “indefinite deferred action status,” which allowed them to live, work, and remain safely in the United States without fear of deportation.
Then, in September 2023, the Romeikes were told during a routine check-in that their deferred status had been revoked. The family was given four weeks to apply for German passports, so they could be deported to Germany. The family had no prior warning, and was offered no explanation, other than that there had been a “change of orders.”
Read more»
Home School Legal Defense Association | “Romeike Family Facing Deportation After 15 Years in US” | Sept 18, 2023
UPDATE: The Romeike family has received a one-year extension.
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It also hints at where the current administration and the Democrat party as a whole stands on homeschooling. Not that it wasn’t exactly hidden knowledge, but if given the opportunity, they too would forcibly strip our rights to educate/catechize our children.
“The family was offered no explanation.” This is the hallmark of some anonymous bureaucrat somewhere. I’ve seen firsthand in my career the damage that unaccountable bureaucracy can do even in the private sector. I can only imagine what it’s like in the public sector, where you basically cannot be fired for anything.
If I were in a much snarkier mood, I might suggest that the Romeikes ask to be deported to Mexico and then just walk across the border. They’d be welcomed by ICE with open arms.