NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — The family who fled to Tennessee from Germany because that nation does not allow home schooling will appeal their asylum bid to the U.S. Supreme Court.
According to attorney’s representing Uwe and Hannelore Romeike (roh-MEYE-kee), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled late last week that it will not revisit it’s May decision to deny asylum to the couple and their children.
The Romeikes are Christians who want to educate their children at home, but German law doesn’t allow home-schooling. The couple say they could lose custody of their children if deported.
The Home School Legal Defense Association of Virginia is representing the Romeikes. Spokesman Michael Farriss Jr. says its attorneys see the case as a matter of religious liberty.
“The German High Court has explicitly said that they do target religious home-schoolers. They said that there’s a danger of the children learning at the home from the mother.”
Many American home-school families and evangelical Christians have taken up the Romeike’s cause. The family is currently living in Morristown east of Knoxville