A statement attributed to German politician Alice Weidel, promising sweeping changes to Germany’s migration policy within the first 100 days of an AfD-led government, is circulating widely online.
The viral post claims Weidel said she would close Germany’s borders, eliminate social benefits for migrants and carry out the country’s largest deportation programme.
GhanaMedia.net’s review found that the wording circulating online is not an exact transcript of the speech, but it closely reflects migration proposals Weidel made at the AfD’s federal party convention in Riesa on January 11, 2025.
What Weidel actually said
During her speech after being selected as the AfD’s candidate for chancellor, Weidel said an AfD government would pursue a series of measures during its first 100 days in office.
According to contemporary reports and a transcript of the speech, she said the party would seek to close Germany’s borders comprehensively and reject people entering illegally or without documentation. She also said asylum applicants’ support should be changed from cash to benefits in kind and that social benefits for people without a right to remain should be withdrawn.
Weidel also said the party would pursue large-scale returns and explicitly embraced the term “remigration” in describing its proposed policy.
The wording in the viral graphic — particularly the claim that she would “eliminate social benefits for migrants” and conduct “Germany’s largest deportations” — therefore appears to be a condensed English-language rendering of her broader proposals rather than a verbatim quotation.
The AfD’s migration position
Migration has remained one of the AfD’s central political issues.
The party has advocated substantially tighter border controls, restrictions on benefits for certain non-German residents and expanded deportation measures. Its regional programmes also continue to call for the rejection of migrants without a right to remain and changes to the way social assistance is provided to asylum seekers.
Weidel’s 2025 Riesa speech went beyond immigration policy. She also called for major changes to Germany’s energy policy and said the AfD would reverse policies involving renewable energy and nuclear power.
Viral claim needs context
The graphic currently circulating online presents the three migration measures as though they were a newly issued statement.
They are not new. The underlying proposals date back to Weidel’s January 2025 campaign speech.
The wording has nevertheless resurfaced online, generating renewed discussion about the AfD’s approach to migration and what an AfD-led government would seek to implement.
It is also important to distinguish between political pledges and actual government policy. Implementing such measures would depend on Germany’s constitutional framework, legislation, European Union rules and parliamentary majorities.
As of the current circulation of the claim, the evidence reviewed by GhanaMedia.net supports the substance of Weidel’s 2025 migration proposals but not the viral graphic’s wording as a verbatim quote.
