"We are talking about migrants who have been convicted in Germany for crimes related to murder, physical and sexual integrity, the protection of property, attacks on police. In all these areas, we are reducing legal restrictions on expulsions substantially," de Maiziere told N24 television.
In the future, conditions will favor a foreigner's expulsion in cases where a criminal has been sentenced to one or more years in prison, the interior minister noted.
"It is a tough, but right measure of the state against those who think that if they are looking for protection here, they can commit crimes without any consequences in Germany," de Maiziere stressed.
Under the current German law, migrants are deported only if they have been sentenced to a jail term of three years or longer and provided the situation in their country of origin makes it safe for them to go back there.
The proposed measure was deemed necessary after dozens of women in Cologne were robbed, threatened and sexually assaulted by small groups of aggressive men, allegedly mostly of Arab and North African origin, on New Year's Eve.
