House Judiciary Committee Approves Asylum Bill for Homeschoolers

America does not need any more reality denying, creationists and far right Christians - the ones we already have are doing far too much damage to the country through their embrace of ingnorance and extremism.  Yet, the political whores on the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee have approved a bill that would grant homeschoolers asylum in this country.  Meanwhile, the bill makes it more difficult for those fleeing gang violence to gain asylum.  Who is backing this batshitery?  The hate group Family Research Council and its white supremacist leader Tony Perkins (also note the comments of certifiable nutcase, Mike Farris who once ran for office here in Virginia).  And in due course, Republicans fell in line with FRC's craziness.  USA Today looks at this very bad bill.  Here are highlights:

The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill Wednesday that would allow people to seek asylum in the USA if they are persecuted by their governments for homeschooling their children. At the same time, the bill would make it tougher for children fleeing gang and drug violence in Central America to gain refuge here.

"Shouldn't children who are fleeing child abuse and violence be afforded the same protection as a child who is denied homeschooling?" said Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, D-Ill. "If we're going to have this unprecedented carve-out for homeschooling, we should put at the same level children fleeing abuse, rape, gangs and murder."

The Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act, sponsored by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, would make it more difficult overall for refugees to win their asylum cases, while opening a category of relief for families who live in countries that outlaw homeschooling. The bill would allow up to 500 grants of asylum per year to families fleeing persecution for homeschooling their children.

"No one should be forced to flee their homeland in order to homeschool," said Michael Farris, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association. "But that is what ... families have had to do in order to escape crushing fines, criminal penalties and even the seizure of their children in countries like Germany and Sweden."

Gutiérrez said he does not object to the provision in Chaffetz's bill but thinks it's unfair to help homeschool families without aiding children fleeing drug and gang violence and abuse in countries such as Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. . . . "Isn't fearing for your life at least equal to fearing persecution because of homeschooling?" he said. He offered an unsuccessful amendment that would have offered asylum to children fleeing violence in their home countries.

Rep. Raúl Labrador, R-Idaho, said asylum has always been reserved for refugees persecuted by their governments.  "Asylum law is not there to protect crime victims, it is there to protect those persecuted by government," Labrador said.

"These bills are a conscious, premeditated attack against millions of American families and a direct blow at the heart of the Latino community," said Clarissa Martinez De Castro, a deputy vice president at the National Council of La Raza.

Only in the bizarre world of today's GOP would countries like Germany and Sweden be deemed oppressors while murder and mayhem in Central America be deemed unworthy of concern.  These people are frightening!