DHS allows German home-schooling family to stay in US
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(Home School Legal Defense Association (Courtesy Romeike family))
A German home-schooling family facing deportation following the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear their appeal is being allowed to stay in the U.S.
The Department of Homeland Security has granted the family “indefinite deferred status,” their attorney confirmed to Fox News.
That means the Romeike family, who claim the German government is persecuting them because they want to raise their children in accordance with their Christian beliefs, can stay in the United States without the threat of being forced return to their home country, the family’s legal team told Fox News.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The family moved to Morristown, Tenn., in 2008 after facing fines and threats for refusing to send their kids to a state-approved school in Germany, which is required by law in that country. If the Romeikes had stayed in Germany, they risked losing custody of their children.
Initially, the family was granted asylum in 2010 based on religious freedom grounds, but the Obama administration decided to appeal that decision, and won. The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the family's appeal.
"While this is the end of the line for normal legal appeals, we are not giving up," Michael Farris, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association and lead counsel for the Romeikes, said in a written statement.