In the pursuit of economic growth, countries today are becoming increasingly open, with more and more countries opening their doors to immigration. With international mobility growing due to rapid globalization, underpopulated countries like Germany are constantly looking to migration as an economic and social mobility strategy. With an immigrant population occupying as much as a fifth of the entire population, Germany has become increasingly dependent on immigration as a solution to population decline (Thomasson 2017). As the main refuge for asylum seekers in Europe today, Germany is facing a huge influx of new citizens, but paradoxically, economists say the country's future is still threatened by the shrinking population, even as immigration fills its huge labor gap (Narula 2016). Subpopulation in this context refers to how the fertility rate in Germany is falling below replacement level, which would soon result in an unsustainable population (Kelly 2013). Despite hosting more than 1 million asylum seekers since the introduction of the open-door policy in 2015, Germany is still expected to face a stagnant or declining population by 2030 (Apt 2013:9). Germany has also seen an increase in the number of cases of aggression against locals, caused by immigrants. One such report showed how violent acts committed by foreign nationals have increased since the peak of the refugee influx in 2015, with the number of German citizens killed by foreign attackers in the past three years steadily rising to 83 in the past two years (Channel NewsAsia 2018). Authorities have since attributed this increase in violent migrant crime to the large number of young people who had entered the country seeking asylum (Eddy, 2018). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The increase in violent crimes against locals by foreign thugs, along with the sudden influx of immigrants, have since provoked anti-immigrant sentiments and led to an increase in xenophobic sentiments among the local population (Perrigo 2018). In exploring the strong anti-immigration sentiments and xenophobic attitudes among local Germans, I will examine a case study of the ongoing anti-immigration protests, which first occurred in Chemnitz, East Germany, just a couple of weeks ago ago, and which have pushed the country into the worst state of its migration crisis in modern history. In my article I will discuss how Germany's approach to migration is not the most appropriate, especially with the increase in anti-migrant protests, and subsequently propose possible solutions to this problem. Chemnitz is currently tense after a wave of racist violence following the fatal stabbing of a local man, allegedly by two migrants, fueling tension between anti-migrant crowds and left-wing protesters (Channel NewsAsia 2018) . According to CNN, the previously peaceful demonstration, which has since turned into a violent protest, was sparked by the alleged killing of local German-Cuban citizen, Daniel Hillig, who was attacked by two asylum seekers of Iraqi and Syrian origin during a street festival on August 27, 2018 (Schmidt, Smith-Spark 2018). After the arrest of the Iraqi and Syrian thugs was disclosed, over 5,000 right-wing protesters gathered in the city, all demanding that the immigrants leave Germany out of fear for their safety (Perrigo 2018). The protests also ledto the rise in popularity of far-right political parties such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which encouraged people to protest and attack citizens they thought were of foreign origin (Perrigo 2018). The AfD, which is the third largest party in the German parliament, exploited this incident for the resurgence of neo-Nazi activity through protests, riots, and parading Nazi salutes at their rallies (Serhan 2018). Neo-Nazi activity in this context is the most significant insidious variant of right-wing extremism in Germany, which increased dramatically after unification (Anderson 2008: 39-46). In the protests, the AfD appeared to encourage public backlash against immigration, an issue that the party leveraged to gain considerable support during the country's general elections last year (Serhan 2018). As reported by the Economist, the AfD reported inflated numbers of violent crimes committed by immigrants, claiming that in 2017 there were a total of 447 murders by illegal migrants (The Economist 2018). In the era of post-truth politics, where feelings take priority over facts, the AfD has exploited and exaggerated facts such as, in this case, the migrant crime rate, to broaden its appeal to traditional voters, triggering emotions and feelings of anger among locals (The Economist 2018). On the surface, this serves to amplify the distinction between local Germans with authentic German heritage versus immigrants, but it also acts as a form of manipulation of the public into acting according to the party's wishes. Examining the root cause of xenophobic attitudes and anti-immigration sentiments The current situation is an accumulation of anti-immigration sentiments from 1993 that still finds echoes today as Germany struggles with the consequences of the refugee crisis of 2015-2016 (Scally 2018) . Since then, growing anti-immigration sentiments have manifested themselves in racist attacks against immigrants and the rise of far-right parties due to the fear of Uberfremdung (Skipper 2017:17). Uberfremdung in Germany has been defined as “overalienation” – the situation in which a society becomes “alien” to its members due to excessive immigration of foreign cultures (Heckmann, Schnapper 2015). This has also led to the subtle return of ethnicity-based discrimination originating from the Nazi period, with people in Germany facing hostility and attacks because of their status as asylum seekers or refugees, or are considered as such because of the color of their skin, regardless how they remained in the country for a long time (Scally 2018). This exemplifies how subjects of post-war racialization continue to be produced through contemporary migration regimes in modern Germany (Erel et. al. 2016:1344). In examining how this ethnicity-based post-war racialization applies to the case study context, discrimination here refers to how anti-migrant crowds, composed primarily of local Germans, against those of foreign descent, which include asylum seekers , refugees and also immigrants who have converted to German citizens. Along with the increase in the number of violent crimes committed by migrants in the country, this has led locals to fear for their safety due to the presence of immigrants who have been labeled “violent criminals” in light of the protests. This then serves as a stimulus for the locals who have asked the immigrants to leave the country, in protection of their country, democracy and ethnicity for fear of Uberfremdung. Social Science Theory: Realistic Group Conflict Theory Analyzing this issue further through the sociological lens, theAnti-immigrant sentiments can be explained with the theory of realistic group conflict defined by Donald Campbell in 1965. The theory of realistic group conflict states that the perception of a zero-sum competition between groups results in the belief of a “threat of group” which in turn leads to prejudices and negative stereotypes by members of one group against another (Sidanius and Pratto, 1999:17). Applying this theory in context, zero-sum competition, defined as one's gain equals another's loss, refers to the perceived threat of the growing number of immigrants in Germany due to the fear of excessive foreignization. This then translates into a “group threat” belief that immigrants pose a threat to the country, which has led to the rise of anti-immigrant sentiments among locals. Realistic Group Conflict theory also expands the notion of self-interest among natives to incorporate the possibility that harm to a subgroup of natives may be perceived as harmful to all natives (Card et. al. 2005:9). This explains how local Germans became angry that one of their compatriots was mistreated by immigrants, who in this case are not considered natives, which sparked the start of anti-immigration protests in Germany. It also demonstrates how discrimination based on ethnicity occurs where the term “all natives” here does not include that of immigrants, even if they have lived in the country for long periods of time. Globalization Aspect: Accelerating the Spread of “Fake News” to Mobilize Protesters Looking at the situation of Germany from a global perspective, globalization is believed to have accelerated the spread of “fake news” by mobilizing protesters during this period. With the globalization of technology providing wide and efficient dissemination of information, and in this case accelerating the use of information technology in disseminating information on platforms such as social media (Bieber 2014). This has since created opportunities for the proliferation of “fake news” on social media platforms. In the case of the recent anti-migrant protests in Germany, far-right groups, such as the AfD, have spread "fake news" on social media to mobilize their supporters into violent protests. One example was a report widely circulated on social media that the stabbed 35-year-old man was defending a woman from migrants, which the AfD used to stoke anger among locals and gain support for their protests . In this case, globalization perpetuates this situation by intensifying violent protests, where the AfD saw a large mobilization effect for their protest following the “fake news” article. Thesis: The German approach to immigration is not the most appropriate Although Germany is massively dependent on immigration, this issue clearly shows how serious the immigration problem is in Germany, reflecting how deeply the immigration issue has divided the German company (Fielder, Starzmann 2018; Eddy, 2018). As Interior Minister Horst Seehofer stated: “The migration issue is the mother of all political problems in this country. Many people now associate their social concerns with the migration issue” (Lewandoski, 2018). Supported by a national survey conducted in July 2018, 72% of respondents said they believe Germany's immigration policies are “too lax” (Lewandoski, 2018). This case study also shows how migration can present challenges to the country, such as anti-migrant protests, in addition to its potential success in bridging.