Democrats at the state and federal level have practically been rolling out the red carpet for illegal border crossers. Officials in New York City believe the Big Apple alone will dish out about $12 billion by the end of fiscal year 2025 caring for illegal immigrants. But instead of Democrats pressuring the government to deport them, Biden's Department of Homeland Security is doing the opposite. Last week, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that nearly half a million Venezuelan nationals who arrived in the U.S. by the end of July will be eligible for Temporary Protected Status—that's more people than the population of Wyoming.
It's amid this massive influx of illegal immigrants, which many Republicans are rightly calling an "invasion," that the government's focus on one family is prompting outrage on social media.
The Romeikes have been living in the U.S. for the past 15 years, but they now say they face deportation from the Biden administration.
The family moved to the U.S. from Germany in 2008. Their application for asylum said they were fined by the German government roughly $9,000 after homeschooling their children, court documents show.
An immigration judge initially granted the family's application for asylum. The U.S. Department of Justice appealed the decision, and the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals revoked the family's asylum status, documents show.
The family, with the help of the U.S. Home School Defense Association, appealed to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel unanimously ruled against the family.
"They have not shown that Germany's enforcement of its general school-attendance law amounts to persecution against them," Judge Jeffrey Sutton wrote for the court.
Judge Sutton said in his ruling the Romeikes didn't prove the German Government persecuted them for their religion, because they applied the homeschooling law regardless of religion.
Since the sixth circuit ruling in 2013, the Romeikes have lived in the U.S., checking in periodically with immigration agents.
"They're here with the approval of the U.S. government, but without permanent residency or citizenship status," said Kevin Boden, an attorney with the U.S. Home School Defense Association. (WBIR)
After their long battle to remain in the country legally, Romeike said an immigration agent asked the family to return in four weeks with their German passports and get ready to self-deport to a country that's now foreign to them.
The couple had two more children since moving to America, and two of their oldest children are now married to U.S. citizens.
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"They work here. Everything is here in America," Romeike said, according to WBIR. "We don't have any place to live there. I don't have any work to provide for my family over there."
They fled fines and imprisonment for #homeschooling in #Germany. They created a life here for 15 years. Now, they are suddenly facing deportation. Urge #Biden and Congress to intervene and help this family. >> https://t.co/uVAtxB3r5r #romeikes #helptheromeikes pic.twitter.com/rT7Ji0z0rR
— HSLDA (@HSLDA) September 26, 2023
The DOJ finally found asylum-seekers it opposes! It's a German family that has lived here for 15 years after being punished for homeschooling. https://t.co/tHXmtmaQ1t
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) September 25, 2023
Biden let seven million illegals pour over the border since he assumed office but wants to deport a Christian family from Germany who moved to America because homeschooling is illegal in their country.
— Ben Zeisloft (@BenZeisloft) September 25, 2023
We have unbelievably wicked rulers.https://t.co/suo87380l0
USG finally found some foreigners they're ready to deport. Something about them, can't put my finger on it. https://t.co/2dWNZSTL5f
— Alberto Miguel Fernandez (@AlbertoMiguelF5) September 25, 2023