A leading mayoral candidate in the German city of Cologne was seriously injured on Saturday after she was attacked by a man opposed to illegal immigrants flooding into the country.

Henriette Reker was stabbed in the neck at a campaign stand. She is a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats.

A senior police investigator, Norbert Wagner, said the attacker “wanted to and did commit this act because of anti-foreigner motives.”

The 44-year-old German national and Cologne resident “made general statements” about Merkel’s policies on migrants, but did not specifically mention the Chancellor.

On Thursday Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, formalized a policy designed to deal with the wave of illegal migrants.

The policy will reportedly speed up asylum procedures and make certain rejected applicants are returned to their home country.

The plan by federal and state governments also intends to provide migrants with better means to integrate into society, according to Deutsche Welle.

Studies Show Muslims Refuse to Integrate

In 2009 the Berlin Institute for Population and Development released the results of a survey showing that large numbers of immigrants — in particular, Muslim Turks — have not integrated into German society.

“Of all the immigrant groups in Germany, the southern Europeans from Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece, who made up the first wave of so-called ‘guest workers’ who came to Germany after World War II, have done best in terms of integrating themselves,” Der Spiegel reported.

A poll conducted in 2012 showed that 72% of the Turks in Germany believe Islam is the only true religion and 46% hope one day more Muslims will live in Germany than Christians.

Moreover, the poll revealed young Turkish migrants hold more radical Islamist views than their elders. It also showed distinct prejudice against atheists and Jews.

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