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Law in Contemporary Society
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Crossing Borders: The Failures of Immigration in the United States and Australia-- By WilliamTodd - 18 May 2025 The regulation of immigration in the United States is broken. Immigration has been a vexed issue dating back to 1790. With each successive wave of immigration of people from Europe to Latin America to Asia, hostility has grown amongst people residing in the US as immigrants represented a threat to job security, working conditions and housing supply. The inability of successive administrations to adequately address legal immigration to the satisfaction of the electorate has resulted in the chaotic, inconsistent and damaging treatment of illegal immigrants. Systemic failures and public sentiment regarding immigration has provided an environment for exploitation by opportunists in positions of power who have been able to influence the narrative of how the American people view the immigrant, either legal or illegal. The current President has been able to reflect with robust rhetoric the increasing national dissatisfaction with ineffective policy and law in dealing with immigration. This rhetoric has led to the conflation of illegal and legal immigration in terms of public discourse. This negative sentiment has driven support for inhumane and draconian immigration policies that seek to preserve racial domination and increase the power of the President. The President claims he has a duty, in violation of cultural and moral values and the principles of democracy, to carry out mass deportations of immigrants, regardless of their legal status, to stop asylum seekers at the borders and delay or deny refugee status for those who have submitted their claim. America is not alone with its broken immigration system. As an Australian, I am aware of the effects of Australia’s struggle to manage both illegal and legal immigration. Australia is a country built on immigration, we have relied on immigration to build our workforce and economy. Notwithstanding this, racial tension has always simmered and as immigration has increased in combination with the rise in asylum seekers, successive Australian governments have enacted laws and policies to manage immigration and to respond to community unrest about the security of the country and the security of their way of life. The result has been strict and unforgiving immigration policies. For migrants seeking refuge in Australia, they face unique problems. As a faraway country with a surrounding ocean border-wall, illegal migration often involves long travel in small, overcrowded and ill-equipped boats in treacherous seas. Vessels that do not sink (resulting in lives lost) are intercepted by border patrol officers whereupon the asylum seekers are transported to offshore immigration detention centres in neighbouring territories such as Papua New Guinea. Individuals and whole families languish in these prison-like facilities for years waiting for their refugee status application to be assessed, and if rejected, they are then returned home. Those who fly to Australia by plane and overstay their visa are searched for and deported. This practice is rooted in our immigration laws and policies and its bipartisan support reduces the possibility of any policy change. Legislation and policy need to meet the reality of increasing migration throughout the world. The internet and advancements in how people carry out their work and life has theoretically brought down borders and driven movement between nations. Additionally, increasing regional instabilities and warfare has further contributed to the rising numbers of people wanting to migrate to wealthier and safer nations and looking further ahead climate refugees will also increase the volume of immigration. The scope of immigration must be redefined to meet demand. The legalities of crossing borders will always be a challenge to lawmakers. Controlling and simultaneously supporting immigration requires a multi-faceted approach which has compassion and respect for the dignity of the individual as the baseline. The current political landscape in both the US and Australia regarding immigration is influenced by the citizenry who instinctively fear migrants of differing status. Lawmakers must address this issue when shaping policy. All people have a human right to live in a free society with a basic standard of living. The sanctity of this needs to be sold and preserved through education of the people. To shift a national conscience, there must be sustained, widespread collective action to transform public opinion while promoting policy agendas that not only support immigration theoretically but which in practice ensure adequate funding and resources, and necessary infrastructure capable of administering a sophisticated immigration network. The destination nations feel the impacts of immigration economically, socially and culturally. Expansive policy must address these issues to meet the unavoidable fact of immigration. Housing, public transport, schools and universities, hospitals and health care, welfare services and job opportunities need to meet the demand of an increasing population that comes with immigration. Investing in and expanding on these services will not only buffer immigration but will bring improved services to existing citizens. Lawmakers need to pitch the advantages of immigration. By minimizing the impact of immigration on a nation you minimize the impact of immigration on the individual, and with this acceptance will grow. To meet the immediate crisis, administrators must set reasonable immigration levels that can be managed by reasonable temporary and permanent visa and citizenship programs that expand as need and demand increase. Crucially, attention must be given to the obvious economic impact of immigration. Increased spending is required on infrastructure so that it can support a growing population – hospitals, schools, tertiary institutions, public transport and housing need to keep pace. Funding for the programs will come from the increased workforce that will allow business and industry to expand providing for supply to meet demand. When immigration is managed well with effective economic policies then the sentiment of immigration naysayers will become addressed. Lawmakers have a moral responsibility to implement policy that educates the community from a young age on the reasons for migration and the benefits that can flow reciprocally. Importantly lawyers need to advocate for the immigrant threatened with deportation on illegal grounds and preach against misleading facts and racism. Lawyers need to arrest the failure of immigration in the US and Australia.You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable. To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" character on the next two lines:
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