(RNS) A U.S. immigration judge has granted political asylum to a Christian family from Germany that wants to home-school its children.
The Home School Legal Defense Association, which defended the family, announced the Tuesday (Jan. 26) decision by Judge Lawrence Burman in Memphis, Tenn.
“This decision finally recognizes that German home-schoolers are a specific social group that is being persecuted by a Western democracy,” said Mike Donnelly, an attorney and director of international relations for the Purcellville, Va.-based association.
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike and their five children left Bissingen, Germany, in August 2008 to live in Morristown, Tenn.
Lutz Gorgens, German consul general for the Southeast U.S., told the Associated Press that Germany’s mandatory policy on school attendance seeks to give all children a high standard of education.
“Parents may choose between public, private and religious schools, including those with alternative curricula like Waldorf or Montessori schools,” said Gorgens.
