As chaos reigns on the U.S. southern border and illegal immigrants pour into the country, breaking records daily, the Biden administration makes no effort to find out who these people are and what their intentions might be once they are bused or flown into the interior of the country. Many claim to be seeking asylum, but just as many are using that claim to get into the country with even greater ease. But one family who has sought real asylum in the U.S. is now being threatened with deportation, even though they have broken no laws and done everything legally to remain in the country.
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike and their five children are Christian German immigrants. They fled Germany in 2008 after they refused an order from the German government to stop homeschooling their children. In a move that would make the Biden administration and Democrats green with envy, the German government outlawed homeschooling in 2018 and, at one point, took the Romeike children from their parents and put them in public school. They are not American citizens but have made their home in Tennessee for 15 years and have been hardworking, upstanding members of their community. They have been allowed to remain in the U.S. on something called "indefinite deferred action status" since 2014.
But suddenly, the Romeikes are a problem for the Biden administration. Earlier this month, the Romeikes were notified by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that they needed to apply for German passports and be prepared to be deported. Kevin Boden is an attorney with the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) and is representing the Romeikes. He says all they were told was to have their passports ready in four weeks for deportation. He added:
They did not tell them why. They were just told there was a change in orders. We don’t know where the orders come down from, they may have come to the local office from the field office director or the deputy Field Office Director, which probably came from ICE headquarters. Whether it came from the Biden administration or somebody more at the executive level, we don’t know, just the change in orders, get travel documents and get ready to go is effectively what they’re told.
Democrat administrations have not made life in America easy for the Romeikes. In 2010, the Romeikes were granted asylum by an immigration judge, but the Obama administration appealed the judge's ruling, and it was subsequently overturned by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) in 2012. The situation has also gotten a bit more tricky for those in the government hell-bent on deporting the Romeikes. Since arriving in the U.S., they have two more children, who are American citizens, and a few of their adult children are married to American citizens. Isn't it Democrats who like to scold us about tearing families apart?
During a recent appearance on the Fox News Channel, host Laura Ingraham pointed out the total hypocrisy displayed by the Biden administration between the Romeikes' case and the complete lawlessness occurring at the border, including the fact that the Biden administration recently granted temporary protected status to thousands of Venezuelans entering the country illegally. The stream of illegal immigrants pouring over the border appears to have no end in sight. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, so far in fiscal year 2023, 2.2 million illegals have entered the U.S. That is not counting "gotaways," those who evade Border Patrol.
By all appearances, the Romeikes seem to be real candidates for asylum. If they are deported, the laws in Germany have not changed, and they would still be subject to prosecution as homeschooling is still illegal. There is a question of whether the Romeikes could claim asylum based on religious grounds, as that is the reason they homeschool their children. It is a curious thing, though, that this family only seems to be a problem for Democrat administrations. An online petition was started for the Romeikes that received 127,258 signatures and was sent to the White House, but thus far, there has been no comment. There is also no explanation from the Biden administration as to why the Romeikes' case is different from anyone entering the country illegally on the southern border.
Hannelore Romeike voiced the disillusionment of an immigrant seeking freedom and safety for herself and her family in America, only to find something very different. She stated,
“We try to do it the right way. And we don’t get to stay here, or to immigrate for 15 years we fight for that right and it seems there are two faces to this administration.”