ABSTRACT
Immigration has been a daily dilemma and source of concern in the European Union, especially, as it has struggled with the complexity of a system of member nations' autonomy and attention to common values throughout the union. This chapter considers Germany's recent construction of immigration policy. A narrative analysis of Gesetz Über den Aufenthalt, die ErwerbstÄtigkeit und die Integration von AuslÄndernimBundesgebiet (the Act on the Residence, Economic Activity and Integration of Foreigners in the Federal Territory), facilitated by the AutoMap text mining tool, was conducted. The efforts to encourage integration through administrative approaches are based on a thin conception of what it means to be German, and lack the richness that is afforded by efforts that afford migrants their identities. Even if signaling in the political environment is the reason for such an approach, the outcome is not one that should be acceptable to either German citizens or migrants.
