CDU on migration and integration

The CDU wants to recruit skilled workers abroad, arguing that the gap left by retiring baby boomers cannot be closed otherwise. Foreign qualifications are to be recognized more easily, and refugees are to be brought into work more effectively.

Lower Saxony lacks skilled workers. The CDU wants to bring skilled workers from other countries. Foreign degrees should count more easily. Refugees should also find work more easily.

The program relies on managed immigration of qualified workers and wants to make full use of the federal Skilled Immigration Act. To recognize foreign degrees and vocational qualifications, the state's Studienkolleg (preparatory college) is to get more staff, and missing course content should be easy to make up. Partnerships with other countries and regions are planned for recruitment. The pact for getting refugees into work is to be expanded, also in light of the war in Ukraine, with dedicated labor market programs where needed.

The CDU wants to make the state reception authority the central body for deportations, relieving local immigration offices. It argues that overlapping responsibilities and a lack of expertise have sometimes prevented removals so far.

The CDU wants one office to handle deportations. The state reception authority would take this over. Local immigration offices would then have less work with it. The CDU says too many offices are in charge today.

As a first step, a pilot project would shift the removal of people who have committed crimes or refuse to cooperate, and who are required to leave, to the state authority. An agreement with the municipal associations would secure enough positions for qualified caseworkers. Public prosecutors and immigration offices would cooperate more closely. Expulsion orders, substitute travel documents, and the preparation and execution of deportations would be handled by a single body. At the same time, the CDU affirms its commitment to protecting refugees.

The CDU wants to introduce a residence requirement in initial reception centers and distribute asylum seekers to municipalities only if they have good prospects of staying. Reading out mobile devices to clarify identity and origin would become standard procedure.

The CDU wants stricter rules for asylum seekers. They would have to stay in the first reception center. Only people with good chances of staying would move to a town. Authorities would routinely read out cell phones. This is meant to clarify identity and origin.

A residence requirement means that those affected may stay only within a defined area. Asylum procedures are to run faster and more effectively, and the setting up of clearing offices is to move ahead. Data on mobile devices would be analyzed routinely to obtain information on identity and origin. The CDU links this to the goal of returning people who have no prospect of staying.

The CDU wants an integration law that gives immigrants a right to integration services while making participation mandatory. It expects everyone living in Germany to commit to the values of the Basic Law, the German constitution.

The CDU wants a new law on integration. Immigrants should get a right to help, such as courses. But then they must also take part. Everyone should respect the values of the German constitution. There should be integration centers in the regions.

An action plan for cohesion and integration is to be drawn up with the municipalities. Existing integration projects are to be recorded, bundled, and aligned with the goals of the new law, and municipalities are to be fairly compensated for their costs. Regional integration centers are planned, and specialist services are to work more closely with schools, companies, public administration, and employment agencies. Immigrants are to get special support in finding work. Courses on law, culture, the economy, and society in Germany are to be expanded and funded.

The CDU wants to conclude personal integration agreements with immigrants that combine support with required efforts of their own. Learning German and earning one's own living are to be fixed parts of integration. Language support is to be expanded at the same time.

The CDU wants to make single agreements with immigrants. These list the steps toward integration. People should get help, but they must also do their part. They should learn German and earn their own money.

The agreements are to include a duty to respect the rules of living together in Germany. Language support is to improve in daycare centers and schools, and for immigrants also in vocational training, universities and adult education. The existing commission on migration and participation is to become an integration council, and municipalities are to get integration officers and councils. People with a migration background are to get easier access to public service jobs, but without a fixed quota. The CDU also wants to promote volunteering by immigrants and raise awareness of integration issues among public employees.