Berlin, 1 September 2025 (dpa/MIA) - German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Sunday said stepped-up border checks have already curbed illegal crossings since the new government took office in May.

"Since May 8, we have turned back 12,000 illegal entries," Dobrindt told public broadcaster ARD. That figure included around 660 asylum seekers, he added, noting that word had spread it no longer made a difference at the border, keeping "asylum mentions" low.

Germany intensified previously sporadic checks at its external borders on May 8 through an order by Dobrindt, shortly after the new conservative-led coalition government took power. He also ordered asylum seekers to be turned away at the border – a policy that remains legally contentious.

Pressed on whether the government would set a migration cap, Dobrindt declined to give a number. He said Germany faced integration limits and strain limits after a decade of accumulated pressures and now needed a course correction to end the country's "overload."

MIA file photo