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German family seeking asylum in US to homeschool kids

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    Inside the couple's legal battle

  • Duration 4:56
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-- -- can raise -- children as they see fit and -- freely home schooled and in accordance with their strong Christian beliefs.

But now they are in danger of being deported.

As a German couple they fled Germany in 2008.

Where home schooling is completely against the law.

Parents there must to send their children to a government approved school.

If they don't they face fines jail time and risk losing custody of their children the couple settled in Tennessee where a judge eventually granted him asylum.

But now their case is being disputed by the department of justice and attorney general Eric Holder.

Who says Germany's ban on home schooling fails to violate the families fundamental rights.

Joining me now is Michael -- of the Home School Legal Defense Association who's handling the couple's case.

Michael does the Department of Justice.

He's handling.

In this case a.

Yeah I think the government can do a better job of making parental decisions in these parents can't.

They certainly embraced them German position which is exactly that.

Germany doesn't want anything -- -- be able to home school their children because Germany doesn't want people to think differently.

Then then the -- position and -- -- freedom is something we fought for in this country we thought the people would be free to come to this country to pursue their freedom here as well.

One is the case of the -- like a family even matter to most Americans that the Justice Department is involve themselves.

Well it's the way the Justice Department has chosen to argue the case that really hit -- -- -- alarm bells to home schoolers in general it to everybody who was liberty.

First of all they've argued that parents don't have a fundamental liberty interest.

To direct the education of their children so that applies to home schoolers but -- a pleasure really to every parent.

Do you gonna make the decisions for your own child and they say.

It's a government privilege if we take it away we take -- government privilege to make education decisions that's the net result of their argument yes indeed.

And the second thing is that they've argued in the that the case that individual liberties themselves.

Don't give rise to human rights violations that are the basis for a silent so.

All -- they think about in the all the arguing the case.

Is -- -- if if we're being treated -- groups as equals.

-- individual rights violations don't matter but we content.

The individual liberties are central is central to human rights as central to constitutional rights and that is so.

Different than the founders who said.

That you know our rights are individual.

That all men are created equal not all groups are created equal and and this does represent a collected this notion does it not it does it for example the government argues because they don't belong to a denomination.

That forces them to home school their children just because it's an individual decision.

You don't have the right to do it only if -- denomination would force you to home school.

And that kind of collective is thinking runs throughout a lot of the themes that you see coming from this administration.

That's that's kind of important because I think a lot of American families we need to understand -- if the Justice Department argues.

That you have to be a part of a group who believe something in order for -- believed to be respected.

Then that really says that your individual beliefs are immaterial.

To the United States government that's exactly right.

Despite the fact that the Supreme Court has said on numerous occasions.

Religious liberty is an individual right you don't have to agree with anybody else within your church or anybody else in the universe.

It's between you and god and and that really is the same principles that our country was founded on the founders.

Understood that this was an individual liberties how like gun rights they thought it was a collecting this right.

But it really is an individual right they they don't seem to like -- very many individual rights in this administration.

If this were just.

And it would be -- would have a chilling effect upon not just home schooling not just education but on all rights.

Why doesn't the ACLU join with -- in this case because it looks like they'd be.

Up in arms they always argued that an individual has a right -- have a different opinion and and to be all by himself out there are herself.

In such an opinion but I think the ACLU might actually join us at a later stage in this case I hope that they would because.

I like to have them the right oneself while that there there.

They have stood up for home school freedoms a timer to in the last thirty years I've been defending families at home school their kids.

But -- most the time -- profit off the charts as far as I'm concerned it.

We really need to stand together as all Americans who believe in individual liberty and there are people on all both sides of the -- who really get this.

But this administration doesn't seem to understand.

Well it's it's an amazing case I hope you keep us up to date will update our audience as the case goes to trial and and that goes before the I think the sixth Circuit Court right it'll be in the sixth circuit on April 23 if you wanna go to that it just sold -- website they can read all about it.

Well and I think they should it's pretty frightening Michael Paris thank you for joining us this -- -- --

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