Month: March 2014

My favorite refugees, German homeschoolers, get asylum

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike and their children left their native Germany in 2008, fleeing persecution by the government because they wanted to homeschool their children.   Lynda Altman reports in the Examiner

The family applied for asylum based on religious persecution. Asylum was granted. However, the Obama administration overturned that decision and the Romeike family faced deportation.

HSLDA stepped in and fought the deportation. They lost the battle at every turn. Even when Glenn Beck stepped in with a sizable donation, the family still could not catch a break in court. Then, a petition was filed with thousands of signatures requesting that the U.S. Government answer a final request. On that, the family won.

The Romeike family. Six and counting.

The U.S. Supreme Court was supposed to hear the case on Monday, March 3, 2014. Instead of hearing the case, the court decided against it. That left the Romeike family with no more options. They were out of time and legal recourse. It looked like deportation was inevitable.

After public outcry, the Department of Homeland Security gave the Romeike family permission to remain in the United States. This happened on Tuesday, March 4, 2014.

Blogger Ben Swann has these further details (as well as some details about what happened to them in Germany):

The Romeike’s received help from the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). The HSLDA requested a rehearing with the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The request was denied. The case caught the attention of the homeschooling community, as well as a number of Christian groups. An online petition asking President Obama to grant the family asylum was signed by more than 127,000 people. Eventually the Romeike’s and the HSLDA decided to request a hearing with the Supreme Court.

Michael Farris, founder of the HSLDA, commented, “The Attorney General and Sixth Circuit are ignoring critical evidence and are trying to send back this family who is trying to stay in our country legally. We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will go the other way and see what the original immigration judge saw: that this family and other religious homeschoolers in Germany are being persecuted for what they believe is the right way to raise their children.”

Both writers give the petition and public outcry credit for the outcome.  I wonder; I’ve never heard of a petition to the federal government having any effect.  It’s great if that’s true.  I do remember that more than 20 years ago Rep. George Miller of California introduced a bill in Congress that homeschoolers interpreted as threatening to their right to educate their children.  (I should say “we homeschoolers” as I was one at the time.)  They jammed the Capitol switchboard — it was reported to be the most calls ever — and the bill was withdrawn.  Today there are many more homeschoolers.

I posted on the case here in 2010 and Ann posted here in 2013 when the Romeikes were denied asylum.  Note that they were initially granted asylum and then that was overturned at the federal level.  We can imagine how much the Obama administration would love a Christian family educating its children outside the state’s control. (Not!)  I’d love to know the inside story of the judicial and government actions in this case.

As Ann commented in her post when the Romeikes lost their asylum case: We will take Chechens, Somalis and Rohingya Muslims, but not persecuted Christians from Germany who pose no threat to America.  Go figure!

Addendum: Here a great piece by Michael Farris, Dangerous Policy Lurks behind Romeike Triumph.  I don’t have time to write about it, but if you are interested in homeschooling, parental rights, religious freedom, or oppressive government, there’s a lot here for you.

Going away!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Readers, I will be away for a few days and possibly without any internet service.

Things are hopping on the refugee front, so I surely will return with a lot of hot topics needing to be posted.

However, if you are a new reader, or a daily visitor, let me point out what we have on these pages that could keep you busy reading for days!

First, you should check out our Fact Sheet (it is linked right under the banner above).  It is daily one of our top posts.

Speaking of Top Posts (see the right hand sidebar ) which will guide you to stories that have interested readers the most in recent days.  Right now the Wyoming posts are bringing readers in in droves.

And, I can’t emphasize enough that our search function works really well.  But, don’t just type in ‘Somalis’ for instance, or you will get 800 plus posts!  Perhaps narrow your search to ‘Somalis’ and your city.  Or, type in your city or state and find everything we have written about it and refugees in general.

Likewise for our readers from around the world.  Type in your country first and see if we’ve written about it.  I can assure you that if you’ve got a refugee or asylum problem we’ve mentioned it over the years.

Also, if you are looking for facts and statistics, try our ‘where to find information’ category, here.  Browse down the list of categories in the left hand sidebar for other topics of interest.

Enjoy!

Wyoming: Republican primary candidate challenges governor on refugee resettlement

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Dr. Taylor Haynes challenges Governor Mead on invitation to federal government.

It seems that the subject of Wyoming possibly getting a refugee resettlement program has worked its way into an election year issue.   See all of our previous posts on this hot button issue in Wyoming.

A letter this week in the Casper Star Tribune from Dr. Taylor Haynes questions whether it is a good idea for Wyoming to invite the feds in.

The writer describes problems with Somalis elsewhere in the US (check out our post just yesterday from Minnesota!) and in Europe.

For readers in Wyoming who are asking Dr. Haynes, ‘who said anything about Somalis coming to Wyoming?’ let me emphasize again—-WYOMING WILL NOT CHOOSE THE ETHNIC GROUPS IT WILL RECEIVE. The US State Department and the resettlement contractor will.

In this case it’s contractor Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains, which has had a hand in bringing Somalis to Greeley and Ft. Morgan, CO (both cities have had many problems with the influx), that would be the lead agency in Wyoming.

Here is Dr. Haynes:

Did Governor Mead apply to the Office of Refugee Settlement, indicating that Wyoming is interested in establishing a public–private center to help refugees? If this is true, what would it mean for Wyoming?

What it has wrought in Europe from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom is devastating. Most immigrants from war-torn East Africa have few to no job skills and exhibit tremendous language and cultural handicaps. They overburden the social welfare system. That’s the bright side.

The “rest of the story” is honor killings and unbelievably violent gangs, centered on the various clans from the home country. They have been exposed to the horrors of war from birth. Violence is the only coping means they know.

[….]

We must very sternly question the governor’s motive for making this request. Could it be the federal dollars funneled to the “private charities” to manage the re-settlement of these refugees? If so, which charities have been selected to receive the grant? What are their connections to the governor?

We, the “sitting duck” citizens of Wyoming, must demand that Governor Mead withdraw this request immediately if he made it.

I wish I had more time to write about this (heading out of town), but be sure to visit the story about Dr. Taylor Haynes at the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.   Here is one of the many things he says that has motivated him to run:

Haynes said he’s running because he believes Wyoming needs an executive willing to fight against what he sees as federal meddling in business that the state should be responsible for.

The present governor, Matt Mead, has done just that—invited federal meddling in state business—by opening the door to the US State Department and its refugee resettlement contractors.

 

‘S’ word (Somali) missing from reports on gym brawl in Minnesota

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We first had this story last week (again thanks to ‘pungentpeppers’) and although we knew those arrested were Somalis (by their names) it was one of those ho-hum here-we-go-again stories and posted it at the facebook page ‘Diversity’s Dark Side‘ and didn’t bother to post it here.

Now after seeing it on Drudge yesterday and in the British press (with photos) the news becomes how many stories can be written about it without saying the word Somali so that the average reader, not attuned to names like Ali Yusuf Barre, Abdirashid Yasin Duad, and Mohamed Awil Suleiman, might actually have the full picture of what is happening in the suburbs surrounding the Twin Cities.

Even the UK Mail can’t say the ‘S’ word as one commenter to the story noted.

In the “riot” weights and barbells were thrown after an exchange of profanities.
Somalis on right, victim (could he be Hispanic?) on left.

From the UK Mail:

A basketball game on a court at an LA Fitness gym descended into a mass brawl involving 10-15 people which included weight plates and barbells being thrown around.

Police were called to the incident at the gym in Roseville, Minnesota, last Sunday and arrested three adults and three juveniles.

Officers arrived and tried to gain control over two agitated groups of males who were shouting profanities at each other, according to criminal complaints.

Four males were fighting with one person on the basketball court and chased him into the fitness area, the complaints said.

‘People were actually throwing two and a half, five, 10 pound weights within the building,’ Police Lt. Lorne Rosand told WCCO.

Customers and gym staff tried to intervene and separate the groups, and the LA Fitness manager tried to defuse the situation by directing the man being chased to stay by the front desk and juice bar, the complaints said.

But the suspects began to throw weight plates, barbells and a trash can lid toward the juice bar and the male target, according to the complaints.

As you read down the story, and all of the other stories, this is the only piece of information you have about who the perps are:

The three adults, Ali Yusuf Barre, 18, of Minneapolis; Abdirashid Yasin Duad, 18, of Minneapolis; and Mohamed Awil Suleiman, 20, of Burnsville, have been charged with disorderly conduct and participation in a riot.

I did see some mugshots at the very end of a TV report, but again no mention that these are Somali “refugees” we “welcomed” to America.

The news accounts, including this one, all remark about the large number of times police are called to the Roseville LA Fitness, but managers there have declined to take any action to more rigorously protect their business, now why do you think that is?

The gym has been plagued with crime in recent years. Roseville police responded to 147 incidents there in 2013 and have already gone to 24 incidents this year.

Police are frustrated with that LA Fitness as their requests to put in security cameras or have guards on site have all been denied.

‘They don’t want to take any proactive measures to prevent theft in the parking lot or inside,’ Rosand said. ‘I just hope they step up like any business in the community.’

Why so many Somalis in Minneapolis?  Thank the US State Department and its resettlement contractors: Lutheran Social Services, Catholic Charities and World Relief.  Diversity is so beautiful, isn’t it!  Wyoming are you listening?