Immigration returned to centre stage in the German parliament today as MPs held a fiery first reading of an Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) motion demanding an official fiscal ‘migration balance sheet’. Citing newspaper estimates that refugee and integration spending since 2016 tops €400 billion, the AfD’s Hans-Jürgen Goßner urged the government to compute how different migrant groups affect tax revenue and welfare payouts. Opposition parties condemned the proposal: CDU/CSU speakers acknowledged costs but highlighted the vital role of foreign doctors and entrepreneurs; Green and Left MPs accused the AfD of sorting people by ‘utility’ and reviving xenophobic tropes. Labour market data, argued SPD’s Rasha Nasr, show that employment growth since 2024 has come “exclusively from foreign workers,” easing Germany’s acute skills shortage. Procedurally, the motion (printed paper 21/8549) was referred to the Committee on Labour & Social Affairs for study, meaning no immediate legal changes. Yet the debate signals that election-year politics will keep migration economics in the headlines—and that fiscal arguments may shape the next round of Skilled Immigration Act reforms. Why should HR and mobility professionals care? A push for granular cost-benefit accounting could influence salary thresholds, social-security rules and regional quotas for work visas. If ministries are instructed to publish annual immigration ‘scorecards’, corporates may find themselves lobbying to ensure that highly skilled categories are recorded as net contributors, preserving favourable policies like the EU Blue Card. Global mobility teams should track the committee hearings, expected in Q1 2027. Companies hosting large numbers of non-EU staff may wish to submit expert testimony emphasising the tax take, innovation and export linkages created by international talent. In the meantime, the political rhetoric underscores the need for proactive communication with German colleagues about the positive impact of expatriate employees.
Source: Deutscher Bundestag
