Federal Labor Minister Bärbel Bas claims that "no one is immigrating into our social welfare system," but official figures contradict this statement. | According to the Federal Employment Agency, €21.7 billion flowed to foreign recipients of citizen's allowance in 2025 – almost every second euro. | The proportion of foreigners receiving citizen's allowance was around 47.2 percent in 2025, a significant increase over the last 15 years. | The largest group comes from Ukraine, followed by Syria, Afghanistan, and Turkey, illustrating the complexity of the causes. | | The coalition agreement explicitly calls for reducing incentives for immigration into the social welfare system, which contradicts Bas's statement. | Systemic factors such as direct access requirements for refugees explain parts of the trend but do not solve the fiscal challenge. | | The reforms from July 2026 onward, with priority placement, stricter obligations, and 12-month limits for foreigners, effectively acknowledge the problems. Politically, denying the data damages the SPD's credibility and exacerbates the problem of trust with parts of the population. | A responsible solution requires realistic assessments, clear integration measures, and targeted incentive management. | Objective debates instead of ideological denial are needed to limit fiscal consequences while simultaneously fulfilling humanitarian obligations. [...]

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