Washington Post: German homeschoolers granted political asylum (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/26/AR2010012603298.html)
QuoteBy TRAVIS LOLLER
The Associated Press
Tuesday, January 26, 2010; 8:33 PM
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A German couple who fled to Tennessee so they could homeschool their children was granted political asylum Tuesday by a U.S. immigration judge, according to the legal group that represented them.
The decision clears the way for Uwe Romeike (roh-MY-kee), his wife and five children to stay in Morristown, Tenn., where they have been living since 2008. Romeike says his family was persecuted for their evangelical Christian beliefs and for homeschooling their children in Germany, where school attendance is compulsory.
When the Romeikes wouldn't comply with repeated orders to send the children to school, police came to their home one October morning in 2006 and took the children to school. German state constitutions require children to attend public or private schools and parents can face fines or prison time if they don't comply.
In November 2007, Germany's highest appellate court ruled that, in severe cases, social services officials could remove children from their parents.
After that decision, Romeike said, "We knew we had to leave the country."
"During the last 10-20 years the curriculum in public schools has been more and more against Christian values," he said of his decision to teach his children at home.
The U.S. government can appeal the asylum ruling. A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to comment in an e-mail.
The ruling was issued by Immigration Judge Lawrence Burman in Memphis, said Mike Donnelly, an attorney for the Home School Legal Defense Association. The judge's opinion was not immediately available.
Lutz Gorgens, German consul general for the Southeast U.S., did not directly address the ruling in a statement e-mailed after the ruling Tuesday, but said German parents have a wide range of educational options for their children. Gorgens said the mandatory school attendance policy ensures a high standard of learning for all children.
"Parents [in Germany] may choose between public, private and religious schools, including those with alternative curricula like Waldorf or Montessori schools," said Gorgens, who's based in Atlanta.
Donnelly said he hopes the ruling will influence public opinion in Germany, and that is part of the reason his group offered to represent the Romeikes.
Romeike said in an interview that when his oldest children were in public schools they had problems with violence, bullying and peer pressure.
"I think it's important for parents to have the freedom to chose the way their children can be taught," Romeike said.
The Romeikes took their three oldest children out of school in Bietigheim-Bissingen in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg in 2006. Romeike said the couple was fined the equivalent of about $10,000 over a two-year period.
"We didn't pay it all because we couldn't," he said. "We went to court and tried to fight against it - without success."
Fleeing Baden-Wurttemberg for Tennessee ???? :lmfao:
Ugh.
Go America! Give those people freedom to fuck up their kids!
I wonder if they're in some way connected to Hansmeister who was born in Germany and homeschooled.
Horribly embarrasing for us.
Political asylum sounds kinda silly in this case.
Win-win. Germany gets rid of a group of dangerous lunatics, the family gets to ruin their children's lives in the manner that is traditional to them, and the US gets to show off how Christian they are.
Incredibly bad decision; makes a mockery of the meaning of "persecution" and simply invites people to avoid immigration rulesby claiming bogus religious "freedoms."
I agree, it's a win-win for both. Lunatics in Germany are cream of the crop in Tennessee. I bet the average IQ in both places went up after they moved.
Sound like good folks. The republic needs cannon fodder.
Quote from: DGuller on January 27, 2010, 01:28:47 PM
I agree, it's a win-win for both. Lunatics in Germany are cream of the crop in Tennessee. I bet the average IQ in both places went up after they moved.
It at least increases the gene pool.
Asylum is silly, but not allowing home-schooling is worse.
I disagree with that. I think asylum is appropriate for majority of people wanting to homeschool their children.
Ooh funny.
Quote from: DGuller on January 27, 2010, 03:57:06 PM
I disagree with that. I think asylum is appropriate for majority of people wanting to homeschool their children.
:lol:
Quote from: DGuller on January 27, 2010, 01:28:47 PM
I agree, it's a win-win for both. Lunatics in Germany are cream of the crop in Tennessee. I bet the average IQ in both places went up after they moved.
:mad:
Quote from: DGuller on January 27, 2010, 03:57:06 PM
I disagree with that. I think asylum is appropriate for majority of people wanting to homeschool their children.
:cool:
Quote from: DGuller on January 27, 2010, 03:57:06 PM
I disagree with that. I think asylum is appropriate for majority of people wanting to homeschool their children.
You left out the "an". ;)
Quote from: derspiess on January 27, 2010, 03:48:38 PM
Asylum is silly, but not allowing home-schooling is worse.
Don't be silly. Homeschooling is evil.
Quote from: Neil on January 27, 2010, 06:17:27 PM
Quote from: derspiess on January 27, 2010, 03:48:38 PM
Asylum is silly, but not allowing home-schooling is worse.
Don't be silly. Homeschooling is evil.
However, Mart opposes it. Therefore Homeschooling is O-tay.
Quote from: Neil on January 27, 2010, 06:17:27 PM
Quote from: derspiess on January 27, 2010, 03:48:38 PM
Asylum is silly, but not allowing home-schooling is worse.
Don't be silly. Homeschooling is evil.
Hey now. One may be homeschooled for secular reasons.
Quote from: ulmont on January 27, 2010, 06:23:54 PM
Quote from: Neil on January 27, 2010, 06:17:27 PM
Quote from: derspiess on January 27, 2010, 03:48:38 PM
Asylum is silly, but not allowing home-schooling is worse.
Don't be silly. Homeschooling is evil.
Hey now. One may be homeschooled for secular reasons.
Maybe. But it's not desirable. The only thing that is desirable is industrial, cookie-cutter-style schooling.
:shifty:
Quote from: Neil on January 27, 2010, 06:27:28 PM
Maybe. But it's not desirable. The only thing that is desirable is industrial, cookie-cutter-style schooling.
:huh: Why would you want the elite taught in the same manner as the plebs?
Quote from: Malthus on January 27, 2010, 04:59:33 PM
Quote from: DGuller on January 27, 2010, 03:57:06 PM
I disagree with that. I think asylum is appropriate for majority of people wanting to homeschool their children.
You left out the "an". ;)
He also left out the "the". But as a Russian, it's to be expected.
Quote from: Habbaku on January 28, 2010, 02:38:49 AM
Quote from: Neil on January 27, 2010, 06:27:28 PM
Maybe. But it's not desirable. The only thing that is desirable is industrial, cookie-cutter-style schooling.
:huh: Why would you want the elite taught in the same manner as the plebs?
Different schools, different material, same approach.
Quote from: grumbler on January 27, 2010, 01:10:52 PM
Incredibly bad decision; makes a mockery of the meaning of "persecution" and simply invites people to avoid immigration rulesby claiming bogus religious "freedoms."
I agree. I mean I don't understand how the US could deny anyone assylum if that's the level of persecution.