A majority of Germans oppose the government’s radical immigration law, which will allow up to 2.5 million foreigners to obtain German citizenship in time for the federal election in 2025.
The poll, which was conducted by Insa on behalf of the Protestant News Agency, found that 51 percent of Germans are opposed to the new law, with only 32 percent supporting it. Not only is the law opposed by the majority of Germans, but they have a 19-point lead over supporters. Another 14 percent said they did not know how they felt about the law, and 3 percent had no answer for pollsters.
However, arguably an even more devastating poll from the Security Report 2024, conducted by the Allensbach Institute, shows that the population’s overall approval of the federal government’s current refugee policy is extremely low, with 65 percent of those surveyed saying that they did not consider their policy to be correct. According to the security report, over 80 percent of those surveyed have little or no trust in the federal government’s migration policy.
In the same poll, almost half (48 percent) of those questioned said that crime in Germany was increasing due to the influx of refugees, while in 2016, this figure was only 37 percent. The actual federal crime data shows that foreigners are vastly overrepresented in serious crimes, including murder, rape, robbery, and assault.
Germany’s new law would reduce the amount of time foreigners need to reside in Germany to be eligible for citizenship from seven years to five years, and in some cases, allow them to obtain citizenship in as little as three years. It would also allow for dual passports.
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The recent Insa poll found that Alternative for Germany (AfD) supporters are the most opposed to the new law, with 86 percent rejecting easier naturalization. However, majorities also exist with the left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht alliance (BSW), with 61 percent against it, while supporters of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and Free Voters, both reject the law with 54 percent each.
Only 20 percent of voters of the Left reject the law, 29 percent from the Social Democrats (SPD) and 46 percent from the Free Democrats (FDP). Rejection is lowest among Green party supporters, at 18 percent.
The poll also shows that foreigners are very much in favor of the law, with only 35 percent saying they reject it, while half of them support faster naturalization. Fifty-three percent of those Germans without a migration background reject the law.
There is high support for the liberal immigration law among Germany’s Muslim population, with 57 percent saying they approve. However, despite the pro-refugee stance of many Christian organizations, there is a high rate of rejection among Christians for the new law, with majorities rejecting it for Catholics (52 percent), evangelicals (53 percent) and Free Church members (56 percent).
However, Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews form a plurality in support of the law (40 percent) to allow for faster naturalization for foreign citizens.
The polling shows a growing trend towards anti-immigration sentiment in Germany. For example, recent polls show a strong majority of Germans believe migrants bring more problems than benefits.
