ABSTRACT
United Germany as a destination for immigrants raises hopes and fears. At the start of the 1990s, public discussion in united Germany is marked by fear of a growing, aggressive xenophobia, acceptance of violence against foreigners, and, correspondingly, a growing number of perpetrators and victims. The situation of integration in united Germany has created a multitude of new and changing 'pecking orders' between 'locals' and 'foreigners'. The pressure of immigration from the outside grew into a "new mass-migration" an "invasion of the poor" an "onslaught on Europe" and was frightfully exaggerated in sensational reports by the media and in widely distributed horror publications. Researchers and professionals working with immigrants, the government deputy for immigration, church and welfare institutions, unions, and a variety of other initiatives had repeatedly warned of the dangers of political avoidance and defensive attitudes. The internal side of migration politics falls essentially under the category of domestic social politics.
