Aussie Opposition Leader Taylor Proposes 'ICE-Style' Taskforce to Identify and Deport 65,000 Overstayers

Is It "Australia First" Now?

Canberra - Australia’s political landscape has been shaken by a sweeping new proposal from Opposition Leader, Angus Taylor, that seeks to transform the nation’s immigration system into a values-based fortress.

Speaking to a crowded room at the Menzies Research Centre, Taylor unveiled the first stage of the Coalition’s Australian Values Migration Plan, a strategy that prioritises ideological alignment and aggressive enforcement over traditional administrative processing.

The plan has provoked intense debate, with critics noting that its emphasis on vetting and swift removal mirrors the "zero-tolerance" framework utilised by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).

“The Coalition will pursue a values-based migration scheme that puts Australian values first and shuts the door to those who hate our country or abuse our legal system to stay here without a right to do so,” Taylor told the audience.

Central to the proposal is the creation of a "red light to radicals" through mandatory social media screening for all visa applicants.

Under the plan, intelligence and law enforcement agencies would gain standard access to the digital footprints of those wishing to enter the country, moving away from the current risk-based model.

The move toward extreme vetting echoes the internal security protocols refined in the United States, where ICE and Customs and Border Protection have increasingly utilised digital data to identify potential threats before they reach the interior.

“This would also see social media screening of visa applicants move from an as needed risk basis to become a standard feature of vetting,” the Coalition’s policy document states.

The plan also addresses the growing number of individuals residing in Australia without valid documentation, a challenge Taylor linked directly to a perceived decline in national living standards.

He proposed the establishment of a joint agency taskforce specifically tasked with identifying and removing the approximately 65,000 unlawful non-citizens currently on Australian soil.

The proactive hunt and remove strategy bears a striking resemblance to the interior enforcement operations conducted by ICE, which focuses on locating and deporting those who have exhausted their legal avenues for appeal.

“The Coalition will crack down on overstayers,” Taylor warned, adding that “First, we'll create a safe country list to end frivolous protection claims. If you do the wrong thing, we'll keep you out or we'll kick you out. You will be deported.”

Beyond border security, the policy seeks to redefine the social contract between the state and non-citizens.

Taylor announced plans to restrict taxpayer-funded home ownership schemes exclusively to citizens, effectively stripping permanent residents of benefits they currently enjoy.

He argued that the privilege of residency must be earned through contribution and integration, including a new mandate for compulsory English learning for all permanent visa holders.

The shift toward a citizens-first resource model reflects a broader international trend toward economic nationalism, often cited by proponents of the US "America First" agenda.

“Permanent residency must reflect that same expectation, a genuine commitment to Australia, demonstrated through contribution, integration and respect for our values,” Taylor said.

The government has been quick to dismiss the plan as an attempt to court populist voters, with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke characterising the rhetoric as divisive.

Taylor however maintained that the changes are a necessary response to a migration system he described as being in "chaos."

By codifying Australian values as a legally binding visa condition, the Coalition intends to lower the threshold for visa cancellations, allowing authorities to boot out any individual deemed to have undermined democratic principles or the rule of law.

“If a visa holder undermines our democratic values, doesn't respect the law, or doesn't demonstrate respect for those core values, they will be booted out of Australia,” Taylor added.

Aanalysts say as Australia approaches its next federal election, the migration debate is set to become a defining battleground.

The Coalition’s pivot toward an enforcement-heavy, values-centric model is a departure from the multi-cultural consensus of recent decades, aligning the party more closely with the robust interior enforcement and ideological screening policies that have become a hallmark of contemporary American border management.