For us, it is in the migration space that we most directly remember her influence. A Christian Democrat, Rita was asked by a Social Democratic chancellor to chair an expert body on immigration in 2000. The Independent Commission on Immigration, or the “Süssmuth Commission,” as it came to be called, considered how Germany should comprehensively modernize its immigration and integration policy. The Commission explicitly affirmed that Germany is a “country of immigration” and laid the conceptual groundwork for a proactive and intentional immigration policy that would link admission rules, integration measures, and labor market and humanitarian protection considerations under clear, transparent legislation. Much of what the Commission recommended eventually became law in 2005, with Rita assessing in an MPI report the legislation’s strengths and shortcomings. |
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