Trumpism, Made in Germany 

Guest post by Valeria Hänsel and Sabine Hess. Valeria Hänsel is a migration researcher and works for medico international as the regional expert for refugees and migration in Eastern Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. Prof. Dr. Sabine Hess is a migration researcher and professor at the Institute for Cultural Anthropology/European Ethnology in Göttingen. 

Migration policy as the gateway to an authoritarian transformation of the state 

Since assuming office, Donald Trump has shown how closely connected the dismantling of the rule of law is with anti-immigration policy and racist agitation. For his first official acts, he declared a national emergency at the Southern border, suspended access to the right to asylum, and announced mass deportations. At the same time, a decree was issued against diversity programmes in public institutions and the education system. Overnight, hundreds of thousands of migrants in the U.S. saw their prospects vanish, while millions of jobs were put at risk. Meanwhile, the military, border patrol and paramilitary groups along the border are set to receive ever more funds and weapons. As far as the promised right-wing authoritarian reconfiguration of the state goes, this is just the beginning. 

Europe, too, is on the threshold of a right-wing authoritarian transformation. Germany has experienced a significant shift to the right – intensified by the latest spiral of racist public outrage, reignited after a deadly knife assault by a mentally ill refugee in Aschaffenburg that left two people dead. Instead of addressing the causes of such fatal acts, the victims are being instrumentalised to fuel the familiar racist anti-migration narrative, marked by cries such as: "Now is the time to act!" This rhetoric conveniently deflects deeper scrutiny; scrutiny of the state’s neglect of mental health care, the role of systemic racism in framing public discourse, and the political instrumentalisation of fear to justify increasingly illiberal measures.  It places entire communities under blanket racial suspicion and justifies increasingly illiberal measures. The political outrage has little to do with reality: migration figures are falling, the right to asylum continues to be restricted further and further, and acts of violence are likewise committed by white German citizens. 

The far right has been trying for years to establish its ideological hegemony by instrumentalising the field of migration policy.  In recent weeks, it has come closer and closer to power in Germany. The ongoing scandalisation of migration from the (far) right serves as a bridge to the political centre, gradually eroding the principles of the rule of law. In the process, “right-wing” positions have reshaped political discourse on migration in Germany. Studies on right-wing populism and authoritarian tipping points have long warned of this trajectory. Now, it seems, the far right's strategy is paying off Germany too. Friedrich Merz, chairman of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Germany’s new chancellor, appears to be following the Trump playbook. He has increasingly embraced authoritarian rhetoric during the German election campaign, pushing the CDU sharply to the right. Under his leadership, the party submitted two highly restrictive anti-migration motions to parliament, including the so-called "Zustromsbegrenzungsgesetz" (Influx Limitation Act). Merz has promised to close Germany’s borders by decree from day one of his term in office, remove time limits on pre-deportation detention and massively expand the powers of the federal police, including authorising them to issue arrest warrants and take over responsibilities from state police forces. 

The proposal of a ‘de facto entry ban’, which would explicitly apply also to persons eligible for protection, undermines the Geneva Convention on Refugees, the Schengen Agreement and EU law. Such a 'Germany first' approach could only be implemented if Merz were to declare a permanent national emergency to override the precedence of EU law over national law. Doing so would not only align him with the right-wing politics of Viktor Orbán and Giorgia Meloni, who want to bury the European project, but would also put him in the same camp as authoritarian rulers who use emergency decrees to suspend fundamental rights. Other aspects of his plans, too, undermine the very foundations of the rule of law and democracy – especially in Germany. There are historical reasons why arrest warrants are not issued by the police, but must be requested by public prosecutors and confirmed by a court. A key lesson from the Nazi era is that people cannot be detained indefinitely. A ban on entering the country would systematically criminalise all asylum seekers. 

A frontal assault on democracy 

And as if all this were not enough, Merz extended a hand to the far-right AfD (“Alternative for Germany”) by relying on their support for his motion. This open invitation to form a right-wing authoritarian, nationalist alliance is the next blatant shift from the centre towards restructuring the state in an authoritarian fashion. Not only does it undermine any trust in the promise of a "firewall" against cooperating with the AfD, but is a frontal attack on the democratic constitution of society. That said, not just the CDU is to blame for the current politics of hostility towards migration. Over the recent years, the coalition government of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberal Democrats has repeatedly framed immigration as a security issue too, using heavy-handed language to raise expectations of "toughness" and "large-scale deportations". 

It is as predictable as it is sad to see tragic events like the one in Aschaffenburg being used to push an authoritarian agenda. Of course, the incident raises questions. Why, for instance, is Germany currently witnessing an increase in violent acts committed by individuals with mental health issues – some of them with migration background? But whatever the answers to these questions may be, the proposed responses- ‘entry ban, border militarisation- are not solutions. Decades of experience with heavily fortified border systems in both Europe and the USA have shown that such measures do not prevent isolated acts of violence. Rather, the question should be about the conditions that lead to these acts of violence. A closer look at Germany’s asylum policy, reveals a system that for years has been tightening the noose around the necks of people seeking protection by passing ever stricter laws; thus systematically depriving them of future prospects. In addition, there is a systematic deterioration of refugee accommodation conditions. Legal and psychosocial counselling services continue to be cut, and the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act explicitly imposes restrictions that guarantee emergency care only. For decades, doctors, doctors’ associations and refugee councils have called, unsuccessfully, for the abolition of the Act as a special law, particularly with regard to healthcare. 

If the aim is to increase security in society, this is precisely the point where action is needed - not by closing borders and proclaiming a de facto ban on immigration for people without valid entry documents, and by expanding internal surveillance and punishment. The politics of tougher measures, restrictions, and repression is not the solution; it is part of the problem. They feed into the outrage spiral while doing nothing to help. Worse still, by eroding social cohesion, they also undermine their own model of prosperity they claim to protect. 

Merz's advances threaten the social peace of the migration society that all Germans are part of. A quarter of German society has a migration background and is directly affected by a climate that marginalises and frightens people. Moreover, this kind of politics unnecessarily tampers with the cornerstones of the democratic, legal system. After the federal elections, it is high time to understand that the enemy is not a pluralistic open society, nor the people seeking asylum at Germany's borders. The threat to human rights and democracy comes from within. It is the authoritarian yearning of a growing part of the population who see themselves represented by Alice Weidel, Donald Trump or Friedrich Merz. 

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