A senior Greens senator has drawn parallels between Australia’s new policy on visa overstayers—including the reopening of detention centers—and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Donald Trump, framing it as a broadened crackdown on unauthorized migrants. The government’s plan, announced recently, aims to address the estimated tens of thousands of unlawful non-citizens in the country through compliance officers and stricter enforcement measures. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke rejected the comparison, calling the claim "ridiculous" while outlining efforts to reduce the backlog of visa violations. Advocacy groups have raised concerns over the potential human rights implications of the new approach.
Australian Greens senator compares government’s policy to ICE as Tony Burke calls it a ‘ridiculous claim’Get our new political email, free app or daily news podcastThe federal government’s move to reopen detention centres for visa overstayers, overseen by compliance officers, has drawn comparison from the Greens and advocates to Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown in the United States.The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, was careful to downplay any similarities when he announced the federal government’s immigration plan on Thursday, which includes reducing the roughly 77,000 unlawful non-citizens in Australia. Continue reading...
