NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — A couple who fled to Middle Tennessee from Germany with their five children has asked a federal appeals court to grant them asylum in the U.S.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided this week to hear oral arguments in April.
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike removed their children from a German school in 2006 because they felt it was turning the children against the family's Christian values.
Attendance in a state-approved school is required in Germany, and parents who violate the law can face fines, jail and possible custody loss.
But the U.S. government believes the Romeikes' case doesn’t rise to the level of persecution, or that they’re being singled out for their beliefs.
A home school association is defending the family in court and hopes the case will pressure Germany to change the way it treats home-school families.