More than 80 illegal immigrants caught

Press, 8 December 1988, Page 32

More than 80 illegal immigrants caught

PA Auckland Immigration officers in Auckland and Hamilton have caught more than 80 illegal immigrants since reactivating their over-stayer-hunting units last month.

The compliance section of the Labour Department’s immigration service was effectively closed down in 1986 pending introduction of the new Immigration Act.

It has now been reactivated and strengthened after a pledge in October by the Minister of Immigration, Mr Rodger, that an estimated 15,000 illegal immigrants would be sought out. The new act, which became law a year ago, contains powers designed to streamline the catching and deportation of overstayers. It allows little op-

portunity to quash removal orders through legal technicalities.

The Auckland immigration office has applied for 55 removal orders, had two people removed through the courts and encouraged seven illegal immigrants to leave the country voluntarily since last month.

Manukau’s new compliance unit is seeking 12 removal orders and has had three people already removed from the country through successful court action. In Hamilton, immigration officers have applied for court orders for the removal of five people and have encouraged one person to leave voluntarily.

The service’s representative at Auckland Airport has also turned 22

people away because they did not have the appropriate visa or a ticket out of the country. i

The northern regional immigration manager, Mr Neil Caddie, said he was pleased with the compliance units’ progress, despite the daunting task of tracking down the estimated 10,000 illegal immigrants thought to be within his area of responsibility.

“I’m sure the mere fact that we are actively pursuing illegal immigrants means more people are Leaving voluntarily,” he said.

He said it was too early to determine whether the compliance units were locating more offenders from any one particular nationality.