As someone living in Germany my opinion is that migration itself is not the real issue: The vast majority of migrants settle in big cities, which remain economically vibrant and offer a high quality of life¹. In contrast, rural areas—where migration is far less common—are often where the strongest opposition to immigration is found².
This pattern may sound familiar to Americans. In the U.S., cities like New York and Los Angeles have large immigrant populations but remain economic powerhouses, while rural areas—where immigration is relatively low—often show the highest levels of anti-immigrant sentiment³.
The real issue isn't migration itself but economic neglect. Under Angela Merkel, Germany pursued neoliberal economic policies that prioritized privatization and austerity, particularly affecting state-funded infrastructure, with crumbling bridges and (compared to what existed prior) dysfunctional systems. Rural areas, which depend more on public investment for services like hospitals, transportation, and education, suffered disproportionately[4]. The same pattern is visible in the U.S., where the decline of manufacturing and the erosion of public services have hit rural areas hardest, fueling resentment toward an urban elite perceived as benefiting from globalization[5].
This is where migration becomes a scapegoat. If people in struggling rural areas feel abandoned by the government while seeing urban centers with visible immigrant populations receiving public investment, they may (wrongly) conclude that immigrants are the reason for their economic struggles. This misdirected resentment, rather than any real economic harm caused by migration, is what drives much of the anti-immigrant sentiment in both Germany and the U.S. [6]
The solution isn't restricting migration—it’s reinvesting in rural communities, improving infrastructure, and addressing the economic roots of resentment. Without that, xenophobia will persist, even in places where immigrants are few and far between.
¹: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2023/10/international-m...
²: https://www.fes.de/referat-demokratie-gesellschaft-und-innov...
³: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/02/the-most-an...
[4]: (It appears superscript signs bigger than 3 aren't supported on Hn) https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.82967...
[5]: https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-left-behind-rural-ame...
[6]: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/567191/the-far-righ...