By R.L. Stollar, HA Community Coordinator
While the U.S. Supreme Court declined yesterday to review the Romeike family’s asylum case, the family was today granted “indefinite deferred status,” allowing them to stay permanently in the U.S.
With the encouragement of Michael Farris and HSLDA, Uwe and Hannelore Romeike and their six children moved from Germany to the state of Tennessee in the U.S. six years ago. The family filed an asylum claim and argued they faced persecution because their conviction to homeschool conflicted with Germany’s educational policies.
On January 26, 2010, a U.S. immigration judge granted the Romeike family asylum on account of “persecution for homeschooling.” The granting of asylum (later overturned) was a significant legal precedent at the time. As HSLDA attorney Mike Donnelly pointed out, this was “the first case ever to recognize homeschooling as a reason for granting asylum.” This was exactly the intended result of the Romeike case, as HSLDA was using the family as part of a global strategy, the end result being “to be able to say that homeschooling is a human right.” Donnelly himself said, “The Romeikes’ asylum victory is the culmination of years of groundwork to protect homeschooling.”
The decision to grant the Romeike family asylum was overturned two years later on May 24, 2012. The Board of Immigration Appeals determined in Romeike v. Holder that Germany’s general restrictions against homeschooling (homeschooling is illegal except in a few cases) do not target a specific social group, thus they cannot be construed as “persecution” justifying asylum.
HSLDA and the Romeike family appealed this decision to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. On May 14, 2013, the 6th Circuit denied the appeal. The judge’s decision was that, “The U.S. grants safe haven to people who have a well-founded fear of persecution, but not necessarily to those under governments with laws that simply differ from those in the U.S.” This decision was then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On March 3, 2014, the Supreme Court declined to review the Romeike family’s case. The justices did so without comment. HSLDA’s response to this decision on Facebook involved a swipe at undocumented workers, saying, “If 12 million people can live here illegally, then surely there is a way to find a place for this one family.” News outlets published stories on the decision with a litany of curious headlines, such as WorldNetDaily’s “Supreme Court sends homeschoolers packing” and Fox News’ “Team Obama wins fight to have Christian home-school family deported.”
Today, however, HSLDA announced on their Facebook page that a supervisor from the Department of Homeland Security informed them that “the Romeike family has been granted ‘indefinite deferred status.'” HSLDA says this means “the Romeikes can stay in the United States permanently (unless they are convicted of a crime, etc.).” It remains unknown at the moment what individual or individuals chose to grant the Romeikes this status.
“Indefinite deferred status” is also expressed as “amnesty.” The current administration has granted amnesty to the Romeike family.
Below is a copy of HSLDA’s Facebook status, which you can view online here:
BREAKING NEWS!!! The Romeikes can stay!!!
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.
This is an amazing turnaround in 24 hours. Praise the Lord.
Proverbs 21: 1 “The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord, He guides it wherever He pleases.”
~~Michael Farris
Homeschoolers Anonymous 
And God always gets the credit.
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Exactly what I was thinking. It’s Obama’s fault if they get sent back, God’s glory if they get to stay. So dysfunctional!
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I wonder what the Hispanic community will say about this…
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This is a slap in the face to those who have endured worse but have been denied asylum and sent back. I really hope that this blows up in the HSLDA’s face.
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Weren’t they literally complaining yesterday about all the brown people who get amnesty and this wholesome wonderbread family couldn’t because of the racist against whites obama administration?
Same bullshit, different day.
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Here we have HSLDA who works tirelessly to keep the government out of the lives of homeschooling families, yet, they want the government to get involved in this one family’s case. And, if the government doesn’t, the government is bad. I would venture to guess that this family could have easily found another country in the EU to homeschool in. I think HSLDA is using this family for their own benefit.
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This family should have moved to the United Kingdom or even Ireland where homeschooling is legal but evidently Uwe Romeike thought that it was too expensive even though the U.K. is really no more expensive than Germany.
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Which is why I hold on to my thought that homeschooling is a choice, not a cause.
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Until the commit a crime? They are already committing a crime, they are abusing their children.
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Have you personally witnessed abuse in this particular family, or are you merely voicing an opinion that any and all manifestations of homeschooling constitute abuse?
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Matthew 5,6 and 7 are so abusive!
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While I understand that this is a site of former homeschooled students who suffered abuse, It saddens me to see you paint home schooling with such a broad brush. I pulled my child from public school because he was in an abusive situation….at school. He is an LBLD student and what he went through in the public schools is shameful. I homeschool him and we are a loving family with 2 others in public school. I am also glad that this family gets to stay because I am scared to death of being forced to put my own child back into a school where he was persecuted and bullied daily. I know you all have had a hard time but please also try to see another point of view…….and I make sure that my son is not sheltered at all:)
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I am sorry but granting this family amnesty to stay in the U.S. simply because they don’t like Germany’s mandatory school attendance laws is a slap in the face to those who have endured worse, tried to get asylum in the U.S. but were denied and sent back only to be killed when they arrived in their previous country. If the family didn’t like Germany’s mandatory school attendance laws then they should have moved to the U.K. where homeschooling is legal.
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