03/19/2013
We learned recently of the Obama administrationâs decision to release thousands of criminal aliens onto American streets, using approaching sequester budget cuts as an excuse.
But do not think that the Obama crowd objects to deportation generally. In fact, Eric Holderâs Justice Department is working to deport a German family pursuing an asylum claim because Germany bars homeschooling.
Eric Holder has taken the position that homeschooling is not a human right regarding asylum, but that policy could affect American parents as well. About two million students are currently homeschooled in the United States, about 2.9 percent of the total. The German family case may signal a crackdown coming from Washington on the freedom of US parents to educate their own children.
Some European nations want every kid put in the state schools to absorb the diversity belief system. Sweden is particularly bad for demanding even little toddlers be immersed in state-approved social attitudes. (See Swedenâs Crackdown on Home Schooling Causes Parents to Flee.)
The Romeike family (shown below) left Germany and sought asylum in the United States because Germany doesnât allow families to homeschool.
The family was granted asylum initially, but now the Obama administration is using its powerful resources to deport them.
Americans Warned: Home Schoolers Stripped of Rights, By Dale Hurd, CBN News, March 18, 2013
BERLIN â Recently, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said that home schooling is not a parentâs right. It is a statement some are saying should frighten American parents.
Nations like Germany and Sweden show that when governments take away home schooling rights, itâs a slippery slope to no parental rights.
America the Refuge or Not
The Romeike family came to the United States from Germany five years ago hoping to find refuge. They wanted to home-school their children in freedom and a federal judge granted them asylum.But now the Obama administration has been trying to deport them, arguing that home schooling is not a right. The case is currently before a federal appeals court.
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike began home schooling in Germany because they didnât want their children exposed to things like witchcraft and graphic sex education that are taught in German schools.
âThere were stories where [school children] were encouraged to ask the devil for help instead of God and actually the devil would help (in the story),â Uwe said.
âWhen we found out whatâs in the textbooks, itâs exactly the opposite from what the Bible tells us and teaches us, and we wanted to protect [our children],â his wife Hannelore added.
But home schooling is illegal in Germany, except in rare cases. And many home schooling parents are persecuted with fines, jail, or the loss of their children.
Homeschoolers Going Into Exile?
Most home-schoolers in America are left alone. But what if state politicians and the federal government started to move against it?Two of the worst nations for home-schoolers are Germany and Sweden. If you want to see what things might be like if home schooling was banned in America, travel to Sweden, where the government controls education and the home schooling movement has been crushed.
In fact, the head of the Swedish Homeschooling Association, Jonas Himmelstrand, had to take his family into exile. They fled to Finland.
âWeâre in exile. We were forced out of our country and that makes a stronger impact than I can imagine,â he told CBN News. âThis was our country. This was where we had our friends and business relationships and a whole lot of things and now weâre pushed away from it.â
Attorney Michael Donnelly, the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, called the situation âincredible for a nation like Sweden that calls itself a free nation, a democracy, so to speak.â
Ruby Harrold-Claesson, President of the Nordic Committee for Human Rights, went even further, branding Sweden a dictatorship where social workers tell parents what to do.
âSweden claims to be a democracy but itâs far from it. Itâs a dictatorship,â he said. âYou have the social workers dictating how people are to live. Youâre not supposed to be different. Youâre not supposed to be different from anyone else in Sweden. Everyone is supposed to be uniform. They want to have these cookie cutter children.â
Claesson is also the lawyer representing Christer and Annie Johansson, who have lost custody of their son Domenic, because of home schooling. After Domenic was abducted by Swedish officials, Annieâs health began to fail.
Christer said the stress of the ordeal is killing his wife.
âIf we cannot solve this issue soon, Domenic wonât have a mother anymore,â he said.
Russia, A Home Schooling Haven
Nations like Germany and Sweden could learn a thing or two about parentâs rights from, of all places, Russia, which is one of the freest nations in which to homeschool.âWe have complete freedom of home education in Russia, in terms of legality,â Pavel Parfentiev, a family rights advocate in Russia, said.
âThe Russian Federation is sort of a champion of human rights in this particular area, so of course I think it is a good example for both Germany and Sweden where home educators are persecuted,â he said.
Among the persecuted, German home-schooler Juergen Dudek has been taken to court every year for the past 10 years by the German Jugendamt, or Youth Office.
âThe Youth Office, I used to call it the âGestapo for the Young.â As soon as they step in, as soon as they get hold of you, youâve really got problems,â Dudek said.
German homeschooler Dirk Wunderlich and his wife have lost custody of their children, although they are still allowed to live with them. He also told CBN News he expects to be sent to jail, but said he will never stop homeschooling.
âBut Iâm not afraid of this. Iâm only sad for my family. I will go (to jail) laughing. You can do what you want but my children will not go to school,â he said.
America Safe for Homeschoolers?
In America, a red flag went up earlier this year when the Justice Department argued in the Romeike case that home schooling is not a fundamental human right.A source close to the case said the White House cares more about relations with Germany than about a family seeking political asylum.
Asylum for the Romeikes might open a floodgate of refugees from Germany, further embarrassing the German government.
Uwe Roemike, who makes his living as a piano teacher, knows what to expect if theyâre deported.
âFirst they would fine us with increasingly higher fines and they would threaten to take away custody,â he explained.
âThere might be jail time, too, but the main threat is the aspect of custody because then, of course, the children are taken away from you completely and thatâs what no family wants,â he said.
Uwe said the fact the White House would be willing to deny homeschooling freedom to his family, should make all American home-schoolers concerned.
*Dale Hurd also reported from Stockholm, Sweden and Morristown, Tenn.