German homeschooling family takes case to Supreme Court, DOJ trying to deport Romeike family

The Supreme Court may hear the case of Romeike v. Holder, the German home-schooling asylum case in which the DOJ sided against the family

Romeike family

The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) filed the petition with the United States Supreme Court Thursday to revisit the recent  ruling against the Romeikes.

“The goal in Germany is for an open, pluralistic society,” the Justice Department stated this summer in their battle against the Romeike family. “Teaching tolerance to children of all backgrounds helps to develop the ability to interact as a fully functioning citizen in Germany.”

The Sixth Circuit rejected the previous judge’s findings, stating that Germany’s harsh treatment of home-schoolers did not amount to persecution and that the German authorities were not motivated by an improper purpose. This decision revoked the Obama administration’s asylum to the family in 2010.

HSLDA chairman and principal author of the petition Michael Farris says the court should intervene for the sake of justice.

“The United States should be a place of asylum for those who are persecuted because of their decision to follow their core religious beliefs,” he says. “Parents, not the government, decide first how children are educated. Germany’s notorious persecution of families who home-school violates their own obligations to uphold human rights standards and must end.”

The original immigration judge, Lawrence O. Burman, granted the Romeike family asylum on Jan. 26, 2010, under the Federal Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) because Germany’s national policy of suppressing home-schooling violated the Romeike’s religious faith and because German authorities were improperly motivated to suppress home-schoolers as a social group.