Similar to Scholz, Mützenich explains: “There is no one tool that can solve all problems against illegal immigration.” He added: “And certainly not a fictitious threshold figure, like the one (CSU boss) Markus Söder threw into the room without knowing how to make it happen.” Migration is “the task of the century.”

What the Union wants

According to a report in the newspaper “Bild”, Linnemann and CDU/CSU parliamentary secretary Thorsten Frei have set out several points that should be used to limit migration.

– Stationary border control: This procedure should be applied in the EU and – similar to the procedure at the border with Austria – also applied in Switzerland, Poland and the Czech Republic. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser does not rule out this in the future, but counts on flexible controls on the Polish and Czech borders, including beyond the border line. The police union (GdP) considers this “very reasonable”, as the head of the GdP federal police district, Andreas Roßkopf, told Berlin’s “Tagesspiegel” – but this has been in practice for years.

– Payment card: Asylum seekers must be able to buy food, among other things. “The prepaid cards are intended to prevent them from transferring money to their home countries,” the paper quoted the Linnemann/Frei paper as saying. Coalition partner, FDP, also represents similar demands.

However, the general shift from cash to in-kind benefits is considered difficult. Community association general manager Gerd Landsberg told Düsseldorf’s “Rheinische Post”: “The switch to in-kind benefits for all asylum seekers is difficult to implement, creates bureaucracy and does not provide justice towards people who have the perspective of staying. According to the Federal Constitution Court conditions, pocket money must still be paid.”

– Asylum seekers who have no prospects of staying: You must go through an expedited asylum procedure in the transit zone at the country’s border. Rejected applicants must be accommodated at the return center. “This is intended to prevent those who are required to leave the country from going into hiding,” quotes “Bild”. In these centers, those who are required to leave the country no longer receive money, but only receive benefits in kind “up to the absolute minimum requirements”.

– International: The federal government should also end all voluntary admissions programs and declare the Mahgreb states of North Africa and India as safe countries of origin so that applications for asylum seekers from those countries can be more easily rejected.

– Upper limit: Söder’s demands were not submitted by the CDU. On the contrary: “In my opinion, the upper limit is not the answer to the question of how to comply,” North Rhine-Westphalia (CDU) Interior Minister Herbert Reul told the German editorial network.