Court merciless: “Wollhaus speeder” is deported to Türkiye even though he has never been there

He was born in Heilbronn in 2002, grew up there, and has never lived in another country. A German He never possessed a passport , however – and that is precisely what now determines his future. With a ruling dated September 17, 2026 (Case No. 11 S 1326/26), the Administrative Court of Baden-Württemberg upheld the deportation of the so-called "Wollhaus speeder ." After serving his sentence, he is to be deported to Turkey – a country where he has never lived.

This case clearly demonstrates that a residence permit is – unlike the German one – Citizenship is never an inalienable right. At the same time, we consider this decision one of the harshest consequences known to immigration law, and by no means the only justifiable one.

What happened in the case of the "Wollhaus speeder"?

In February 2023, the then 20-year-old sped through a 40 km/h zone on Wollhausstrasse in Heilbronn in a 300 hp sports car at around 100 km/h. He crashed into the car of a 42-year-old father, who died at the scene; his wife and two children died as well. Children were injured. In April 2024, the Heilbronn Regional Court sentenced him to nine years in juvenile detention for, among other things, murder and three counts of attempted murder. The verdict became legally binding in April 2025.

In October 2025, the Stuttgart Regional Council ordered the deportation, threatened deportation to Turkey, and imposed an eight-year entry and residence ban pursuant to Section 11 of the Residence Act. The Stuttgart Administrative Court dismissed the lawsuit, and the Higher Administrative Court has now rejected the application for leave to appeal. The decision is final and not subject to appeal pursuant to Section 124a Paragraph 5 Sentence 4 of the Code of Administrative Court Procedure, and the deportation order is therefore legally binding.

No one would want to downplay the suffering of the victim's family. However, the residency issue is separate from the criminal one: the man is serving his sentence anyway. Deportation is an additional, separate consequence.

How can someone who was born in Germany be deported?

Legally, the answer is soberingly simple: what matters is not the place of birth, but the Nationality . Deportation under Section 53 of the Residence Act can only affect foreigners. Those who "only" have one Even someone who possesses a residence permit or settlement permit remains a foreigner in the legal sense – even after a lifetime in Germany.

Since the year 2000, people born in Germany have been acquiring Children of foreign parents automatically receive German citizenship under certain conditions. Nationality (§ 4 para. 3 StAG). However, this requires that one parent resided legally in Germany long enough at the time of the child's birth and possessed an unlimited right of residence. This was apparently not the case for the man from Heilbronn, and a subsequent Naturalization has also not taken place.

The deportation itself is governed by Section 53 Paragraph 1 of the Residence Act: The interest in deportation is weighed against the interest in remaining. Anyone sentenced to a prison term or juvenile detention of at least two years fulfills a particularly compelling interest in deportation (Section 54 Paragraph 1 No. 1 of the Residence Act). On the other hand, a person born in Germany regularly has a particularly compelling interest in remaining, according to Section 55 Paragraph 1 of the Residence Act. According to Section 53 Paragraph 2 of the Residence Act, the balancing of interests takes into account, in particular, the length of stay, ties at home and abroad, and the consequences for family members.

What special protection do Turkish nationals enjoy?

There is also a special feature: As The man, a child of Turkish workers, enjoyed legal status under the EEC-Turkey Association Council Decision No. 1/80. Section 53(3) of the Residence Act applies to this group of people. According to this provision, deportation is only permissible if the individual's conduct currently poses a serious threat to public safety and order, affecting a fundamental interest of society, and deportation is essential to safeguard this interest.

In practice, this means two things. First, according to the case law of the European Court of Justice, deportation for the mere purpose of deterring others (general prevention) is not permitted for Turkish nationals entitled to association rights. Second, a concrete risk of recidivism at the time of the court's decision is decisive – not the severity of the offense alone. This is precisely where the Stuttgart Administrative Court focused its decision: It referred to previous serious traffic violations and the fact that the man had not yet sufficiently addressed the reasons for his reckless driving. His positive development during his imprisonment was not enough for the court. Not a court .

Why is this decision so difficult – and why wasn't it inevitable?

Let us be clear: The deportation of a person born and raised in Germany is the most severe measure under immigration law – and it is not an automatic consequence, even for the most serious crimes. Since the 2016 reform, the law no longer recognizes "deportation by default." Each case requires an open, individualized assessment, and with sound arguments, a different decision could have been reached.

In the Maslov v. Austria case (2008), the European Court of Human Rights emphasized that in the case of so-called "de facto nationals" who have spent their entire childhood and adolescence in the host country, very compelling reasons must exist for deportation – especially if the offenses were committed as a juvenile or young adult. This is precisely the situation here: the criminal court applied juvenile criminal law, and the perpetrator was 20 years old at the time of the offense.

Furthermore, there is a value judgment at play: The man is a product of this society, not of Turkish society. He was socialized here, came to the attention of authorities here, and was convicted here. The reintegration that juvenile criminal law explicitly aims for is now supposed to take place after his imprisonment in a country to which he has no connection other than Turkey. Nationality may have little relevance. From our perspective, a A court may well make a favorable assessment of the risk prognosis after years of incarceration, given demonstrable positive development and therapeutic support. Deportation is legally justifiable – but it is a judgment, not an inevitable consequence.

Finally, the procedural aspect is noteworthy: The Higher Administrative Court (VGH) did not fully examine the merits of the case. It merely determined that the application for leave to appeal had not sufficiently substantiated any of the grounds listed in Section 124 Paragraph 2 of the Code of Administrative Court Procedure (VwGO) (Section 124a Paragraph 4 Sentence 4 VwGO). The plaintiff had essentially countered the assessment of the Administrative Court (VG) with his own evaluation. We regularly encounter this wording in decisions granting leave to appeal. Anyone wishing to appeal must address the reasoning of the court of first instance point by point – a mere counterstatement is never sufficient.

Conclusion

A person who has never left Germany is being deported to a country he only knows about through his Passport is known. Legally, this is possible, but it wasn't mandatory: The balancing of interests according to Sections 53 et seq. of the Residence Act and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights could have turned out differently for a de facto resident who committed a crime as a young adult. For everyone who lives and works in Germany, For those starting a family , one clear message remains: Only the German [government/government] offers true security. Nationality . If you would like to know if your If your child is already a German citizen, when you can apply for naturalization, or how to respond to a hearing notice from the If the immigration authorities should react, contact us – before deadlines expire and decisions are made.