Overview
- CSU Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt announced suspicion‑independent controls in city centers and at train stations, drawing warnings about racial profiling.
- The government is elevating deportations as a core response, yet figures cited in coverage note about 40,000 people are immediately removable and roughly 180,000 face legal barriers.
- Protests and civil‑society groups denounced Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s framing of urban ‘problems,’ describing the debate as racialized and a societal rollback.
- Merz later said he was referring to migrants without residence rights or work who do not follow rules, a clarification that has not quelled criticism.
- Local reactions reflect a political split, with CDU voices backing the returns push and Greens urging substantive safety measures, while commentators caution unmet promises could fuel the AfD.