In 2008, the Romeike family came to the United States to escape religious persecution in Germany (yes, Germany). The family wanted to home school their children because they opposed the government curriculum, which includes subjects such as “sex education, evolution, and fairy tales.” The Romeike parents were threatened with jail, fined $9,000, and had three of their children escorted to school by the German police. They filed for asylum in the United States, and their case was granted in 2010 (yes, granted). However, DHS appealed and eventually, the family was denied asylum and ordered deported to Germany. After a lengthy court battle–where they became a cause célèbre for Christian homeschoolers and others on the political right–the family’s removal was “deferred” and they were allowed to remain in the U.S., even though they had been ordered deported.
That’s where things stood until last month, when the family reported for a regular check-in with ICE, and were told they had four weeks to obtain German passports and leave the country. The family’s supporters rallied to their defense and earlier this month, ICE granted them an additional one year deferral. However because of the outstanding deportation order, the Romeikes remain under the threat of removal.
For those of us interested in asylum, the Romeike case raises a number of moral and legal questions. It also reveals some important lessons for those willing to pay attention. (more…)
Last week, the House Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would grant asylum to families of homeschoolers who are persecuted by their governments. The bill, sponsored by Congressman Jason Chaffetz, would also make it more difficult for others fleeing violence to obtain asylum in the U.S. by (among other things) raising the bar for credible fear interviews and blocking all government funding for child refugees who need lawyers. Congressman Louis Gutiérrez criticized the bill’s restrictions: “Shouldn’t children who are fleeing child abuse and violence be afforded the same protection as a child who is denied homeschooling?”
While I personally find this bill distasteful, it seems to me that it falls within the grand tradition of asylum. One of the unique characteristics of asylum is that, by granting asylum to an individual, we implicitly condemn the actions of his home country. You can’t have asylum without a bad guy—a persecutor. When, for example, we grant asylum to a member of a religious minority from China, we send a message that the Chinese government persecutes its own people based on religion. Thus, asylum is inherently political: We make a political statement about another country, and at the same time, we demonstrate our own values.
Gutierrez to Chaffetz: “You’re like a homeschooler on a school day – No class.”
Historically, the political nature of asylum has played an important role in the development of our law. For example, the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees (which we helped create and upon which our current law is based) limited asylum to the five protected categories: Race, religion, nationality, political opinion, and membership in a particular social group. This definition had the effect (probably intended) of helping people fleeing from persecution in the Soviet Union (because they generally faced a type of persecution that fit within a protected category) without offering much to people fleeing from persecution in the West (because such people generally faced “persecution” in the form of economic harm or crime, which does not qualify them for refugee status).
What’s more, we’ve never been particularly subtle about the political nature of asylum. During the Cold War, we gave asylum to “trophy refugees,” high-profile people who defected from the Soviet Block to the West. Such refugees helped demonstrate Western moral superiority over the Communists, and so we were happy to take them.
More recently—in the mid-1990s—Congress amended the definition of refugee to include victims of forced family planning. This amendment was a direct refutation of China’s one-child policy. And it was an expression of our country’s (or at least Congress’s) opposition to abortion.
Except for the forced-family-planning amendment, Congress has never modified the definition of refugee. But courts—prompted by creative lawyers—have expanded the definition to include gays and lesbians, victims of female genital mutilation, and people facing domestic violence, among others. While these changes have helped many people, they were not driven by a desire to make a political statement about other countries. And certainly they are not based on our collective desire—as expressed by Congress—to send a message condemning behavior that offends us. Rather, they are based on the idea that people fleeing persecution should be treated equally.
Most lawyers—including yours truly—are big fans of equality. If the state offers a benefit to Joe (be it a tax break, the right to marry, a lenient criminal sentence, or asylum), it should offer the same benefit to Mary. My belief in equal treatment for asylum seekers leads me to oppose special preferences for certain groups, like victims of forced family planning and people fleeing Cuba. In my opinion, such people do not need special laws to protect them. They can request asylum like everyone else. In short, I believe that asylum should not be about sending a political message; it should be about protecting people from harm. If a person demonstrates that she faces harm, she should receive asylum.
The problem is that democracy and equality don’t always go together. The Equal Protection clause protects Americans from the tyranny of the majority, but equal protection does not apply in the context of asylum. Congress could, for example, offer asylum only to people from certain regions or to people of certain religions.
Perhaps we can call it the Realpolitik theory of asylum versus the Equality theory. The Homeschoolers’ asylum bill falls on the Realpolitik side, in that it is designed to further our country’s political agenda by offering a humanitarian benefit to a group that we deem worthy of protection.
Should it become law, the bill would also represent a democratic development of asylum law, something we have not seen in almost 20 years. Wouldn’t it have been nice if some of the other developments in the law–protecting gays and lesbians, for example–had been accomplished democratically instead of by lawyers pushing the boundaries of asylum in court?
To be sure, I don’t like this bill. I don’t like how it restricts most asylum seekers (especially children) while offering special benefits to people who I think should apply for asylum like everyone else. But my opinion is clearly not the point. The Homeschoolers’ bill falls within the democratic, Realpolitik tradition of asylum. It helps a group of individuals who “We the People” view as deserving of protection and it places restrictions on another group that is deemed less deserving. It also sends a message about American values, for better and for worse.
It seems that Glenn Beck is hiring immigration lawyers, and I want in. First, some background:
I’ve written before (here and here) about the Romeike family, a German Evangelical homeschooling family. They were granted political asylum in the United States after the German government tried to force them to send their children to public school. DHS appealed the ruling, and the Board of Immigration Appeals reversed the Immigration Judge’s decision. The case is currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Oral argument is scheduled for later this month.
The Romeikes have a tough case. They have to demonstrate that they face persecution in Germany. They face fines and possible jail time, and they might even lose custody of their children. Such punishments are harsh, but I doubt a court would find that they rise to the level of persecution (though maybe the loss of the children would qualify).
This would be me if I worked for Glenn Beck (except I am not black) (and I normally do not wear a tie).
Further, and this may be the most controversial aspect of the case, the Department of Justice is supposedly taking the position that the Romeikes do not have a “right to home school anywhere.” At least this is how the Home School Legal Defense Association characterizes the DOJ’s position. Frankly, I am a bit skeptical that this is actually DOJ’s position (their brief is not public, so I have not seen it), given that they can probably win their case without stirring up this type of controversy (see previous paragraph). But I suppose if DOJ wanted to make all possible arguments against asylum, this would be one.
So how does Glenn Beck tie into all this?
Earlier this week, Mr. Beck discussed the Romeike family on his show:
“They [Romeikes] did it the right way,” said Beck. “They had their visas. They came here and asked for political asylum. Because if they return to Germany the state will take their children unless they dump them into the system that [goes against their Evangelical values].”
Beck said that the idea of deporting the Romeikes flies in the face of everything that the U.S. stands for. “There is nothing more un-American than this.”
Mr. Beck compared the family with our country’s earliest settlers, who were seeking religious liberty.
The Romeike’s have become a bit of a cause célèbre among American homeschoolers and religious conservatives. A petition to the White House supporting them has received over 100,000 signatures, and–this is the part that caught my attention–Glenn Beck has pledged $50,000 to pay for their legal fees.
As a side note, I do these cases for far less than $50,000 (for affirmative asylum cases, I charge $2,400, which makes me think I need to raise my rates). Mr. Beck, if you feel inclined to help out others seeking asylum based on religious persecution (and I represent many, including people from Iran, Iraq, China, Afghanistan, and Eritrea), please give me a call.
So is it hypocritical for conservatives who normally oppose immigration to support the Romeikes? Writing for Salon, Sally Kohn theorizes that Mr. Beck and his fellow conservatives are supporting the Romeikes because they are white. While I am no fan of Glenn Beck, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one (though it seems reasonable to ask why he isn’t funding asylum seekers from countries like Iran and Eritrea, which harshly punish–and kill–religious dissidents). So what’s going on here?
My guess is that Mr. Beck is confusing American values–such as allowing parents to home school their children–with asylum law, which protects people from persecution on account of religion. Just because we in the U.S. enjoy a particular right–like the right to school our children at home–does not mean that an alien can get asylum when his country refuses to allow him the same right. We have a right to abortion in the U.S. and a right to own a gun, but I doubt an alien who was denied one of these rights in another country would qualify for asylum in the U.S.
Also, I wonder whether Mr. Beck has thought about the dreaded “slippery slope” argument. Would he support this family if they were members of a Christian Identity (i.e., Neo-Nazi) Church? What if they were (gasp!) Muslims?
The Romeikes, like any other asylum seeker, need to show that they face persecution, as that term has been defined by case law. Otherwise, they simply do not qualify for asylum. I wish the Romeikes well in their case. But if it doesn’t work out for them, and if Glenn Beck wants to fund some other worthy asylum seekers who are fleeing religious persecution, I have a few cases he might be interested in…
I corrected an error in an earlier version of this post (see comments).
