German president: Naturalized citizens are not second-class

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke out in favour of immigration and warned against discrimination against naturalized citizens amid heated rhetoric over migration and calls by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) for large-scale deportations.

"There are no first- or second-class citizens," Steinmeier said during a panel discussion in Berlin. "The 'German people' as defined by our Constitution also includes Germans who have come here."

Steinmeier did not mention the AfD by name, but his remarks could be understood as criticism of the party's hardline stance on migration and its demand for the repatriation of groups including all Syrian refugees.

At the discussion entitled "At Home in Germany: How We Live Together," the president emphasized that Germany "belongs to everyone who lives here lawfully, who shapes it every day, who grows up and grows old here."

"It is not merely our grandparents' origins that make us German, nor the blood that flows through our veins," Steinmeier said at the opening of the panel discussion at his official residence.

"It is citizenship, whether acquired by birth or through naturalization. It is the language we share. It is the desire for peaceful coexistence in freedom. The Constitution, upon which we stand."

Steinmeier warned: "Anyone who seeks to categorize and rank what it means to be German is attacking our Constitution and placing themselves outside our democratic order."

At the same time, the president said people without a right to remain in Germany must leave the country.

"Those who are allowed to stay should be able to belong. Schools, housing, medical care - everyone must have access to these," said Steinmeier. "And those who have to leave, must actually leave."

Germany needs immigration to function, the president said. "This applies to hospitals, care homes and nursing homes, and it now applies to very large sectors of the private economy."