German home schooling family face deportation from US
German couple Uwe and Hanalore Romeike face deportation after seeking asylum in America so that they could home school their children.
The family immigrated to the States so that they could educate their seven children at home, instead of in the German public school system.
In Germany home schooling is illegal and children can even be taken away from their parents, which recently happened to Dirk and Petra Wunderlich who were educating their children at their home near Frankfurt.
Asylum reversed
Because of the German laws on home schooling, the Romeike family fled Germany in 2008 and moved to Tennessee. Two years later their request for asylum was granted.
A higher court then reversed the decision when the Obama administration called for a review of their case.
Persecuted
"We are being persecuted, as are many other home schooling families in Germany," explains Mr Romeike.
He added: "Parents should have the right to choose the best education for their children. That's what's lacking in Germany. We don't have freedom of education.
"We started home schooling because our two oldest children were in public school for a few years and from the beginning had problems.
"Our daughter started having headaches and stomach aches, our son's personality changed. After we started home schooling all these symptoms disappeared. We didn't want to stop," says Mr Romeike.
Children taken away
The Romeike family is being helped by the Home School Legal Defence Association, among other families including the Wunderlichs.
Dirk and Petra Wunderlich’s children were taken away by German police and placed in temporary care, simply because they were being home schooled.
Michael Donnelly, a lawyer for the Home School Legal Defense Association explains:
"There was no other question about this family - they weren't abusing or neglecting their children - the only issue was that they were not in school.
"It's really quite striking when you look at a free country - as Germany claims to be - and you see how they treat parents who want to exercise a freedom."
Mr Donnelly says the Wunderlich children were returned home, but the German government has banned them from leaving the country.
The Romeikes are now waiting for their appeal to remain in America to be heard by the Supreme Court.
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