A historical perspective on German immigration policy and the recurrence of state-sanctioned killings covering the witch hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries and the Holocaust indicates that tension has historically marked German policies toward immigrants. Powerful industrial and agricultural capitalists have imported foreign labor to do their "dirty work" at low wages and under inadequate living conditions. Among European countries, Germany receives the largest number of refugees who seek political asylum. Naturalization of foreign labor and political refugees is never a right in Germany, and the German government frequently obstructs full integration of immigrants by declaring some are responsible for acts of organized crime and violence. Traits underlying German xenophobia are rooted in the basic idea that Germans self-define themselves as a racially homogeneous nation. The author concludes that xenophobia and hostility to ethnic minorities may be more dangerous in Germany than in other Western countries. 28 references