CV NEWS FEED // Thirty-two Republican members of Congress signed a letter urging the Biden administration to grant asylum to a Christian homeschooling family threatened with deportation.
“Thirteen years ago, the Romeike family made national headlines when they were granted asylum in the United States after fleeing persecution in Germany for homeschooling their children,” began the letter addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Homeschooling is illegal in Germany.
“In 2013, the Obama Administration granted the Romeikes ‘indefinitely deferred action status,’ allowing them to live and work in the United States,” the congressmen continued. “Now, news reports indicate that the Biden Administration is likely to deport this refugee family.”
“This decision to potentially deport the Romeike family is as inexplicable as it is unconscionable,” they added, calling the family “model citizens.”
“The Romeike family has lived peacefully and in our country for over a decade,” the letter stated:
To force this refugee family to suddenly return to Germany, with a government that once forcibly removed their children from their home simply for observing their deeply-held religious beliefs, is immoral and indefensible.
Sending this family back to face certain persecution once again goes against everything we stand for as Americans. Should the Romeike family be required to return to Germany, the government will not recognize their children’s education and they may be unable to find work.
The lawmakers noted that if the attempted deportation goes through, the
German government will very likely seek to remove the minor children of the Romeike family — American citizens — from the custody of their parents, as well as penalize members of the Romeike family with jail time and punitive fines.
“Not only would they face discrimination, but two of the Romeike family members born here have citizenship and others have married Americans,” letter explained. “To separate the family would be unwarranted.”
None of the many Democratic congressmen who have in the past decried strong enforcement of immigration laws as amounting to “family separation” signed the letter.
The Republicans closed by calling on Garland and Mayorkas to intervene:
Under federal law, you possess the legal authority to grant asylum to the Romeike family. We, the undersigned members of Congress, respectfully ask that you use this power given to you by Congress to grant the Romeike family asylum.
The lead signatory of the letter was Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-TN, who represents the area in East Tennessee where the Romeikes have lived for the last decade-and-a-half. The seven other Republican congressmen from Tennessee also signed.
Listed second among the signatories was Rep. Mike Johnson, R-LA, the vice chairman of the House Republican Conference and the chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government.
Three Catholic members of Congress signed the letter: Reps. Jeff Van Drew, R-NJ, Chris Smith, R-NJ, and Chuck Fleischmann, R-TN.
>> CHRISTIAN HOMESCHOOLING FAMILY WHO FLED GERMANY FEARS DEPORTATION <<
“Our oldest children were in school in the German public schools, and their personality literally changed,” said the father of the family, Uwe Romeike, during an interview with FOX News last month:
“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,” he added, explaining his and his wife’s decision to homeschool.
FOX host Pete Hegseth observed during the interview segment: “We are seeing record numbers of illegals race across our southern border, most of which are… loosely claiming some sort of a need for asylum.”
Attorney Kevin Boden is representing the family. “The Romeikes have entered the country lawfully. They have been here lawfully for 15 years,” he said. “They want to stay here lawfully, and there’s a way to make that happen. This is not a case other than a family following the rule of law.”
