Hundreds of thousands of Germans protested over the weekend over allegations that a right-wing party is considering mass deportations of foreign-born citizens

The AfD (“Alternative for Germany”) is a party on the far right of Germany’s political spectrum

It opposes immigration, the EU, Germany’s support for Ukraine, and other policies championed by Germany’s ruling center-left coalition

Polls suggest just under 25% of Germans support it, up from 10% during 2020 elections, making it Germany’s second-most-popular party behind a coalition of center-right parties

On January 10, news outlet Correctiv released a report exposing a November meeting between AfD officials and a far-right Austrian nationalist who has advocated for deporting people of foreign origin, even if they are citizens

During the meeting – which reportedly also included officials from Germany’s major center-right party – attendees reportedly discussed the possibility of mass deportations of people of foreign origin

News of the meeting sparked outrage, with critics calling mass deportations illegal and some comparing the proposed policies to those of the Nazis

One of AfD’s leaders fired an adviser who attended the meeting and said in a statement that the party does not support mass deportations of foreign-born German citizens

Yet in response to the Correctiv report, another AfD official wrote on X: “We will deport foreigners back to their home countries. Millions of them. This is not a secret plan. It’s a promise”

Since last week, hundreds of thousands of Germans have taken to the streets to protest the AfD’s alleged deportation plan

Protests peaked over the weekend, with at least 300,000 people participating in protests across dozens of cities, German police said

Germany’s center-left chancellor has condemned the AfD, calling its alleged deportation plan “an attack against our democracy”

700,000+ people have signed a petition, backed by some politicians, that calls on the government to consider banning the AfD

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