Asylum for homeschoolers

An immigration judge in Memphis, Tenn., granted political asylum in late January to a Christian family from Germany that wants to homeschool its children.

Mike Donnelly, spokesperson for The Homeschool Legal Defense Association, Purcellville, Va., which defended the family, said: "This decision finally recognizes that German homeschoolers are a specific social group that is being persecuted by a Western democracy."

Lutz Gorgens, German consul general for the Southeast U.S., told the Associated Press that Germany's mandatory policy on school attendance seeks to give all children a high standard of education and that "parents may choose between public, private and religious schools."