Conservatives suggest intelligence tests for immigrants

Peter Trapp, domestic policy spokesperson for the Berlin chapter of the Christian Democrats, told daily Bild that the country needs new immigration rules.

“We must define immigration criteria that really serve our country,” he said. “Besides a good education and professional qualifications, the benchmark must also be intelligence. I am for intelligence tests for immigrants.”

The idea should no longer be taboo, he added.

Markus Ferber, a member of the CDU’s Bavarian sister party the CSU and a member of the European parliament, echoed Trapp’s concerns, and pointed to alleged Canadian immigration policies as an example.

“We need a unified policy in Europe,” he told Bild. “Canada is much further ahead with this and requires immigrant children to have a higher IQ than native-born children. Humane reasons such as reuniting families cannot be the only immigration criteria in the long term.”