Merz Faces Protests Over Deportation Remarks

Chancellor Friedrich Merz defended remarks linking problems in urban areas to migration and arguing for tougher migration measures and large‑scale deportations, saying voters should “ask your daughters,” and he insisted he had nothing to retract. The comments prompted widespread condemnation as racist and divisive from opposition parties, dozens of Green lawmakers and coalition partners including SPD integration commissioner Natalie Pawlik, who demanded a public apology. More than 7,500 protesters — many young women — gathered at Merz’s CDU headquarters in Berlin in a rally organized by climate activist Luisa Neubauer to denounce the remarks. Refugee groups such as Pro Asyl warned the rhetoric risks emboldening extremists and marginalizing immigrant communities. The controversy has intensified political tensions over migration policy and the rising influence of the far‑right AfD, prompting calls for clearer, less inflammatory leadership on integration.