The dispute lasted several years. German conservatives cut short the first attempt by the "red-green" government to turn Germany into a classic immigration country like the USA, New Zealand, or Australia by challenging the already adopted law in the Constitutional Court. In the mediation committee of the Bundestag and the chamber of federal states, dominated by Christian Democrats, they managed to insist on removing almost all liberal provisions from the original text. But something still remained.
The negotiations were led on behalf of the government by Interior Minister Otto Schily. According to him, "in the end we managed to achieve a result acceptable to all sides." The compromise reached, the minister believes, makes it possible to place the important reform on a broad political basis.
Under the new law, qualified immigrants will henceforth be able to live and work in Germany for an unlimited period. Foreign students, who currently have to leave the country after graduating from a German university, will also be able to stay and work for the benefit of Germany. Overall, however, immigrants' access to the local labor market remains limited. On the other hand, the residence status in the Federal Republic of refugees who have been persecuted in their homeland by non-state structures or because of their non-traditional sexual orientation will become more secure. This is a concession by the conservatives to the Greens. In return, they received the government's promise to finance integration courses from the federal budget. Over the next three years, the federal government will pay for 50,000 seminars per year, in which immigrants will be taught German language and life in Germany.
At the demand of the CDU, the possibilities for deporting undesirable foreigners from Germany are also significantly expanded, especially those suspected of links with Islamist terrorists, as well as those preaching ideas of racial or religious intolerance in Germany. A foreigner will be able to appeal a deportation decision to a single judicial instance - the Higher Administrative Court, whose verdict will be final. The bill bears a conservative stamp, and the opposition's representative at the negotiations, Bavarian Interior Minister Günther Beckstein, had every reason to state that the law "will become an effective instrument for restricting immigration and managing the influx of foreigners." "Therefore, I will recommend to those I represent," the minister said, "to approve it, and I am confident that the project will be supported by all authoritative political forces."
The vote on the new immigration bill is scheduled for July 9 in both the Bundestag and the chamber of federal states.