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“Our oldest children were in school in the German public schools, and their personality literally changed. We wanted to help them to grow up in what they believed in and what we believe in and not get basically indoctrinated…”
–UWE ROMEIKE
After being allowed to live in the U.S. as asylum seekers for 15 years, one German family was told, allegedly without reason, that they will be sent back to Germany, the nation that fined them and threatened to take their children away for homeschooling.
In 2006, Uwe and Hannelore Romeike became convinced that they needed to homeschool their children. “Our oldest children were in school in the German public schools, and their personality literally changed. We wanted to help them to grow up in what they believed in and what we believe in and not get basically indoctrinated with something we don’t want,” Uwe said.
Specifically, the Romeikes, who have seven children, possessed two core beliefs: “a deep conviction” that they were “responsible to God for their children’s education,” and a growing concern that “the content of the German public school’s curriculum—particularly anti-Christian and sexual elements—threatened to harm their children.”
In Germany it is illegal to homeschool your children, and the government fined the Romeikes an oppressive amount that actually exceeded their income. The German government even removed the children forcibly and took them to public school. The family was threatened with the permanent removal of their children if they did not comply by sending the children to public school.
In 2008, the Romeikes applied for and received visas to move to America where they faced a legal battle over their right to stay in the U.S. federal officials argued that they had no right to stay because Germany’s law did not persecute based on any one religion. Eventually, after a petition was sent to the White House with over 120,000 signatures, the Romeikes were granted asylum and have lived In Tennessee for 15 years.
On September 6, the Romeikes were informed at a routine check with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that they must secure German passports and be deported. The Romeikes claim no documentation or reason was given, only that there had been a “change of orders.”
Since moving to the U.S., Uwe and Hannelore have had two more children and two of their German-born children, who are now adults, have married U.S. citizens. One of the adult children recently had a child of their own.
“Everything is here in America,” Uwe stated. “We don’t have any place to live there. I don’t have any work to provide for my family over there.”
If forced to return to Germany, they will face the same issues regarding homeschooling their younger children as they did 15 years ago.
The family’s attorney, Kevin Boden, expressed uncertainty as to what the family will face. Boden is with the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), which has provided assistance to the family since they first sought asylum.
Boden stated, “We just don’t know at this point, which is part of the scary nature of it,” he said. “You can imagine showing up in two weeks and not knowing, ‘Will they take me or my wife into custody and then what happens to our two minor children who are literally U.S. citizens?’ So the uncertainty of this is just remarkable.”
HSLDA president Jim Mason released a statement, saying,
“The Romeike family should be able to stay in the United States and home educate their children. America is a land of freedom and opportunity, and there are few freedoms or opportunities more important than the ability of parents to safely direct the education of their own children, without fear of punishment or persecution.”
HSLDA is sending another request to the White House, asking them to intervene. You can sign the petition here.
Why the U.S. government is seeking to expel a family seeking what should be an internationally recognized right to direct the upbringing of one’s children, even while it permits millions of illegal immigrants to storm over our border, is hard to grasp. If people who do not follow the law, and who have not been vetted in any way, are allowed to stay here indefinitely, why not a family seeking simply to homeschool their children?
The optimist may say that perhaps there was a mistake or some form of bureaucratic mix-up that can be rectified. The cynic says this is by design. Either way, enough public pressure can sway government leaders to grant this family asylum.
In addition to families lending support to the Romeike family through signing this petition, Americans need to see this situation as a warning. Our nation is much like Germany, in that it is now seeking to raise up children steeped in the state’s religion of “tolerance” and “secularism” rather than in their parents’ beliefs.
Germany’s actions and laws show that it views children as belonging to the state and that it believes that the state is the only entity that can properly educate them.
Our nation is very close to believing the same thing, as politicians, members of the media, school boards, and teachers unions insist that school choice is evil, homeschooling harms kids, and that parents should have no say in what children are taught. One court even ruled that parents don’t have the right to protect their children from pornography, while the state of Illinois passed a law that would defund school and public libraries that remove sexually explicit books from their shelves.
This is why our freedoms must be carefully guarded, and whether you homeschool your children or not, it’s time to stand up for the right of all parents to educate their children as they see fit.
Collegiate education is saturated in woke narratives and progressive agendas. Sadly, this secularistic intrusion is happening in America’s grade schools as well. But this doesn’t have to happen to your children! Liberty University Online Academy is a K-12 program designed to educate your children in the ways of the Lord while preparing them to stand firm in their faith when they graduate. Our flexible online curriculum ensures your student is trained at your convenience and keeps YOU the ultimate educator of your children.
