Germany parliament rejects opposition-backed immigration bill News
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Germany parliament rejects opposition-backed immigration bill

The German parliament narrowly rejected a controversial immigration bill known as the “Influx Limitation Law” on Friday. 349 members of parliament voted against the initiative, while 338 supported the draft, with five abstentions.

The bill, proposed by Friedrich Merz, leader of the CDU/CSU opposition bloc, aims to reintroduce the words “and limitation” into § 1(1) sentence 1 of the Aufenthaltsgesetzes (AufenthG), which was previously removed by Germany’s ruling coalition in November 2023.

According to the Draft Law on the Further Development of Skilled Worker Immigration, the removal was meant to reflect that a “modern” and “humanitarian-oriented” immigration law was an important concern and goal of the governing coalition. The bill also mandates the federal government and the states to reduce unauthorized entries and asylum migration to Germany through targeted measures at all levels of government. This includes the suspension of family reunification for persons with subsidiary protection for the time being. Additionally, it emphasizes that Germany’s integration capacities are largely exhausted for the foreseeable future, given the admission of more than 1.8 million asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of 2022.

After the failure to pass the law, Merz posted on X, “We have said what we think and what we believe is right. Unfortunately, the Social Democrats and the Greens have not wanted to follow us on this path. Now, it’s about gaining a new majority for a #policychange in asylum and immigration policy for the next legislative period. We will now fight – for every vote.”

This came after the German parliament passed a non-binding motion Wednesday calling for permanent border control. It also follows the 30 percent increase in deportations by Germany in 2024 since the Repatriation Improvement Act came into force.

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