No Way. You Will Not Make Australia Home

That's the stark warning on the Australian Immigration department's website to all boat people trying to enter the country as refugees.  This policy, initiated by newly-elected Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, was in response to a flood of asylum seekers primarily from Sri Lanka via Indonesia.  Sophisticated people smuggling syndicates charge about $10,000 U.S.  per person for the passage.  Last year, 50,000 arrived on Australia's shores and were processed under the United Nations' refugee convention.  The problem was most claimants were not fleeing political or religious persecution, they were economic migrants looking for a better life.  Nothing wrong with that dream but the many thousands of legal applicants resented the newcomers jumping the queue.  So now, the Australian navy either turns boats away or diverts them to offshore islands for processing.

So far, the new policy is working - no boats have arrived this year.  The New York Times newspaper accused Australians of "xenophobia".  While its true that the country did once have a 'whites-only" policy, claims of racism are belied by the facts.  This year, 200,000 settlers will be accepted under the official migration program - the 2 largest countries of origin are - India and China.  Seven out of ten Australians support the turn-back strategy.

Meanwhile in America, the porous southern border between Texas and Mexico is causing headaches for the Obama administration and local residents swamped by thousands of economic refugees from Central America - primarily children.  Like Australia, sophisticated people smuggling syndicates charge migrants to travel through Mexico and cross the Rio Grande River.  Critics accuse the President of inaction;  they say just call out the National Guard to seal the border once and for all, then you can process the 12 million illegal immigrants who live in the country now.  Mr. Obama went to Texas on a fundraising tour but while he did meet with Governor Rick Perry, he refused to go to the border to see the situation for himself.  (Is he bored with his job?)  So an untenable situation continues to fester and creates other "unintended consequences".  Governor Perry noted:  "The effects of a porous border are felt everywhere....... it leads to increased crime, a stronger drug trade and the specter of international terror.  There have been numerous instances of illegal border crossings by people from countries with ties to terrorism".  Even members of Mr. Obama's own Democratic Party are critical.  Congressman Henry Cuellar called the border debacle Obama's "Katrina moment"  - a reference to the plummet in President George W. Bush's popularity after he was accused of inaction over the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005.  The Congressman added:  "If he has time for a beer and playing pool in Texas, I think he'll have time after the fundraiser to get on Air Force One and go down to the border".

In previous blogs, I have commented on President Obama's inaction in both his domestic and foreign policies.  But this one is really hard to understand.  A simple order to the National Guard and a strong warning to countries of origin would end this fiasco.  How big does the human flood have to get, Mr. President, until you do something?