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AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS: THE AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE
Author(s) -
Rhodes Colbert
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
review of policy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1541-1338
pISSN - 1541-132X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-1338.1986.tb00430.x
Subject(s) - amnesty , illegal immigrants , alien , government (linguistics) , ethnic group , deportation , immigration , political science , population , international community , law , criminology , human rights , sociology , politics , demography , linguistics , philosophy , citizenship
This study indicates that the three amnesties granted by Australia did not remove the presence of illegal aliens nor end the movement of persons into Australia who would become illegal residents. Instead, amnesty encouraged the growth of an illegal alien population. Some persons who were unable to get an immigrant visa decided to come to Australia and remain as an illegal alien living anonymously within an ethnic community. Illegal aliens expected that pressures from the ir ethnic communities would compel the government to grant another amnesty. Amnesty appears only to be a temporary expedient used by the government to appear humane and to relieve pressures from nonethnic Australians who want to end the presence of illegals and from ethnic communities who want their coethnics legalized. Amnesty turns out not to be a long‐term solution to the existence of an illegal alien problem.