The German Bundestag devoted much of its Friday sitting on 9 October 2026 to a first reading of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) motion entitled “Measures for a Real Migration U-turn”. The 14-page proposal demands that the federal government suspend family-reunification visas for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, impose a six-month moratorium on accepting new applications for family reunion from other protection categories, and re-introduce systematic immigration checks at all German airports as well as on land borders. AfD parliamentarians argued that “uncontrolled mass immigration” is straining public finances and social cohesion. The draft goes further, calling for the immediate deportation of rejected asylum-seekers, the expansion of detention capacity, and the deployment of drones, fixed sensors and artificial-intelligence analytics to monitor green borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria. It would also require carriers to transmit advance passenger data for all flights into Germany, effectively extending the aviation security provisions now limited to long-haul routes. Government and opposition parties criticised the text as unconstitutional and economically self-defeating. MPs from the governing Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Free Democrats (FDP) stressed that German industry depends on attracting foreign talent at a time of acute skills shortages. The centre-right CDU/CSU accused the AfD of “symbolic politics” that would undermine Schengen co-operation without meaningfully reducing irregular migration. After a heated debate, the motion was referred to the Interior Committee, where it is widely expected to be rejected. For employers, the discussion highlights the growing polarisation of Germany’s migration debate ahead of the 2027 federal election. Even though the AfD proposal is unlikely to become law, companies should prepare for tighter document checks at certain border crossings during the ongoing period of temporary internal-border controls. Human-resources teams may also face further political scrutiny of intra-EU postings and family-reunion sponsorships.
Source: Deutscher Bundestag
