Australian Greens Liken Government's Visa Overstayer Detention Plan to Trump-Style Immigration Crackdown

The Australian federal government's plan to reopen detention centres for visa overstayers has drawn criticism from the Greens and immigration advocates, who compared the policy to former US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, according to The Guardian.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced the government's immigration plan on Thursday, which includes measures aimed at reducing the roughly 77,000 unlawful non-citizens currently in Australia, the report said.

Under the plan, detention centres would be overseen by compliance officers to manage visa overstayers, according to the source.

A Greens senator compared the approach to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency's tactics under the Trump administration, The Guardian reported.

Burke, however, sought to downplay any similarities between the Australian policy and US immigration enforcement when unveiling the plan, according to the report. He described the comparison as a "ridiculous claim," the source said.

Immigration advocates have also raised concerns about the policy, according to The Guardian, though specific details of their objections were not fully outlined in the available reporting.

Further details of the government's broader immigration plan, including specific timelines and implementation measures for the detention centres, were not immediately available.