He might be referring to a few laws/initiatives that passed in the last few years/decades - e.g., the initiative that forbids minarets (even though there were almost none to begin with; it was essentially a political stunt). Or the 'burka ban', which just got a slight majority today.
Also, the biggest party (SVP) often uses very controversial advertisement, which I can easily imagine to be interpreted as xenophobic by foreigners (I'm Swiss myself).
Glad to hear your positive experience in Switzerland - especially now with the passing of the 'Burka ban', seeing Switzerland as xenophobic isn't something that would surprise me too much.
There have been many kind Swiss I've come to meet with the kindness to include those very different than them; Geneva is one of my favorite places in the world.
To dismiss a whole people as xenophobic as OP did I think is very much an overgeneralization, but I think a large part of Swiss culture is certainly more xenophobic than even nearby European countries - accepting that is an ugly part of the situation does not mean the Swiss people should be any less proud of what they've built over the years.
I only stop by to add that "xenophobia" is not inherently a bad or evil thing. Every culture should have the right to exist, in the land its ancestors built up or conquered - we can argue all day about the correctness of how a given culture and people got to a point where they were able to settle, but the point is that today they are settled and stable. Why attempt to force unsettlement and destabilization through unnecessary "diversity" processes? If you do not fit in to a culture as an individual, but you do fit in to a different culture, why force the one you do not fit to accommodate you when you can be part of one that already accepts you?
Current day exceptions like Donbas, Hong Kong, and Gaza (to name just a few) certainly exist, and there is room for discussion there. There is also an argument that can be held regarding the human and economic cost of getting to a place where the culture fits you.
But to call all attempts to maintain a culture "xenophobic" and therefore associated with a negative... I don't think this is the right way to be.
Also, the biggest party (SVP) often uses very controversial advertisement, which I can easily imagine to be interpreted as xenophobic by foreigners (I'm Swiss myself).
Glad to hear your positive experience in Switzerland - especially now with the passing of the 'Burka ban', seeing Switzerland as xenophobic isn't something that would surprise me too much.