Will’s Word: Are the proposed immigration powers cruel or fair?

There's news out this morning that immigration officers will soon have the power to ask suspected overstayers for identification in homes and workplaces.

Let that sink in.

The Government reckons it's simply closing a gap in the deportation system, with the aim of passing it into law before the end of this term.

Now look beyond New Zealand and you'll see that immigration is one of the most combustible political issues in the world right now.

Under the Trump Administration in the United States, we have seen aggressive enforcement dominate headlines.

In the United Kingdom, the political party Reform UK has surged on the back of hardline migration rhetoric.

Listen to Will's Word below:

In Australia, One Nation continues to rise in the polls as it pushes for tighter borders and tougher powers.

That trend is worthing noting.

Because when the Government looks to expand the authority of immigration officers to request identity information inside homes and workplaces, you gotta ask what's really behind it?

Do these new powers fix a technical issue in the system or drift toward the global trend of performative toughness?

Are we importing the politics of fear that we are seeing all over the world right now?

These are the sorts of questions that spring to my mind when such changes are proposed.