So illegal immigration is expensive. And threatening, it seems. In truth, Australia is fortunate. Most illegal immigrants come through airports and overstay their visas, in which case they are readily identifiable. Or they come by sea and are interdicted and arrested, then deported or sent immediately to detention camps.
Immigration is a sensitive political issue.
This explains the hard line adopted by the Prime Minister and the Immigration Minister, Philip Ruddock - and it explains Labor's decision yesterday to support the Government's Border Protection Bill in principle and to back the clampdown on those found to be genuine refugees but who have entered Australia illegally. In fact, Australia's problems are minor when compared with, say, those of Western Europe and the United States. In the US they cross the Mexican border or are brought in by smuggling syndicates. Compared with Europe and North America, detection in Australia is relatively straightforward. But it is both unfair and unwise to regard illegal immigrants as akin to an invading enemy.