He might be referring to a few laws/initiatives that passed in the last few years/decades - e.g., the initiative that forbids minarets (even though there were almost none to begin with; it was essentially a political stunt). Or the 'burka ban', which just got a slight majority today.

Also, the biggest party (SVP) often uses very controversial advertisement, which I can easily imagine to be interpreted as xenophobic by foreigners (I'm Swiss myself).

Glad to hear your positive experience in Switzerland - especially now with the passing of the 'Burka ban', seeing Switzerland as xenophobic isn't something that would surprise me too much.