It may be a wee bit more complicated than that, but perhaps not much more. The Romeike family fled Germany in 2008 after authorities cracked down on the practice of home-schooling, and applied for asylum in the US. Initially, a judge granted their asylum request, but when the Obama administration appealed the decision, that started a long legal odyssey that may have come to an end late last week:

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.

That didn’t happen last week. In fact, that happened ten years ago in 2013, and shortly after the Supreme Court refused to review the decision. And to be fair, the courts probably got this right; asylum for persecution doesn’t usually involve non-discriminatory enforcement of regulation. (Germany enforces the home-schooling prohibitions equally regardless of religious affiliation, and even non-affiliation.)

Since that time, WBIR reports, the Romeikes have continued to live in the US, within a legal limbo of not being here legally but without any good reason to deport them. Since their arrival, the Romeikes have welcomed two more children to the family, which may be a complicating factor for their removal, and at least two of the emigrated children have grown up and married American citizens. That tolerance, it should be noted, seems to have been present in three successive administrations … until now.

So what changed? That’s unclear. What is clear is that someone in the Department of Homeland Security decided to make a change. An immigration official went to the Romeikes’ home and told them to prepare to “self-deport,” apparently hoping that they would go quietly. With minor children still at home and in home-schooling, the Romeikes would much rather stay in the US, especially since the German authorities are not in any better mood regarding home-schooling than they were in 2008.

Clearly, the Romeikes have not been a problem to the US during their stay, but that may not be terribly relevant to enforcing the law. But even with that, it seems very strange to get particular about enforcing the law now after a decade of tolerance to their presence. Perhaps DHS intended to normalize their status after a brief self-deportation (which might be necessary in normal bureaucratic procedures), but that would usually involve letting them know that. It sounds more like DHS wants them to leave on their own to preserve their ability to emigrate legally, but without any arrangements or consideration to allow that on an expedited basis. That could leave them stuck in Germany for a while, which would be economically devastating to the Romeikes.

Let’s return to the two children born in the US at this point. Those children would be considered US citizens under the 14th Amendment and 8 USC 1401. Even if the parents’ petition for asylum was denied, those two children are Americans and not subject to deportation. And normal US immigration policy is to refrain from separating parents from minor children in deportations. This is exactly why border hawks want these provisions narrowed, a policy change that Joe Biden vehemently opposes … in most situations, anyway.

So why is DHS asking the Romeikes, including two minor American citizens, to “self-deport” at all? Do they do so with illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers in all such circumstances? Especially with families that have cooperated for fifteen years with immigration authorities and the courts? That seems highly doubtful.

It also seems highly doubtful that this was a political decision from on high, though. The family and their situation is far too sympathetic to choose as an example to others. The Biden team may not be fans of home-schooling, but they’re also not detail-oriented enough to know much about this case either. This smells more like the work of a mid-level bureaucrat who decided to make a name for himself by upsetting a status quo that benefited pretty much everyone.

The Romeikes and the Home Schooling Defense Legal Defense Association have a petition circulating in support of their position and to demand that DHS normalize their status. That helps, but one has to wonder what Tennessee’s elected officials have done so far about their plight. Have Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty attempted to resolve this? Perhaps a few of the petition signers should be asking their offices that question, along with the nine members of Tennessee’s House delegation. Defending constituents against mid-level bureaucrats in the executive branch is a key part of their job.