DGB boss Fahimi calls for the establishment of immigration offices

Mith a look at the trip to South America by Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens), DGB boss Yasmin Fahimi has called for the establishment of immigration offices throughout Germany. “The Skilled Immigration Act is an important step in the right direction. But I fear that it will not be enough to bring enough people from abroad to Germany,” said the head of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) to the editorial network Germany.

“In addition to a federal immigration authority, we need immigration offices in the municipalities that offer holistic support for immigration and integration from a single source,” she said. The skilled workers from abroad needed support, for example, in learning the language, looking for a place to live, family reunification and looking for a daycare place. They also needed information about the local infrastructure and the living environment.

“These tasks should be taken over by the immigration offices for a certain period of time to make it easier for the skilled workers to arrive,” said Fahimi. She also pleaded for “entering into more training cooperations with different countries”.

Baerbock and Heil begin a multi-day trip to South America in Brazil on Monday. On their six-day trip, which also takes them to Colombia and Panama, they want to recruit skilled workers for the German labor market.

The federal government wants to “turn immigration policy upside down, because our economy urgently needs more skilled workers,” Baerbock said before she left for Brasília. “Brazilian nurses and Colombian electricians are already finding open arms in Germany – we want to expand this partnership.”