JMJ
I don't know the specific circumstances of this problem in Australia as per OP and I wouldn't dare to comment on it, and I see that we have moved to the broader issue of immigration. I'll just point out that in many parts of the world there seem to be a prejudice against common sense - again, I don't know if that is true in the Australian circumstances - a prejudice according to which
presumed good intentions correspond to moral obligations binding on citizens and legislators regardless of the consequences of certain policies and the responsibilities of the countries of orgin of the immigrant/asylum seeker. That, even when the record makes it abundantly clear that said policies not only fail to achieve the intended results but in fact have a role in making the problem worse with blood-dripping consequences for the weak and the poor, no matter how good do-gooders will feel. As Bob wisely noted, there is a sharp difference between1) asylum seekers and refugees; 2) immigrants; 3) ILLEGAL immigrants.
Being against ILLEGAL immigration has nothing to do with being "against immigrants" and much less asylum seekers or refugees, and it is telling of how very ill-intentioned people have seized control of the discourse on this subject that one even has to specify it. It doesn't even have much to do with being against illegal
immigrants per se, since they are quite often - but not always - victims of a perverted system put in place by corrupt politicians and organizations both in the country of origin and in that of destination. By the same token real or alleged flaws of the legislation in force in a given country are NOT a justification for encouraging ILLEGAL immigration through well-intentioned but actually catastrophic policies. There is no "right" to ILLEGAL immigration. To encourage and facilitate it is to provide a helping hand to and in fact to increase the profits of drug and prostitution cartels who exploit innocents who were hoping to run away from hell-holes around the world. A nation has a right - a
duty, in fact - to protect its borders and to estabilish criteria for LEGAL immigration. Any other position will make it impossible for a nation to survive in an ordered way and so it will soon became unable to help
anybody. Those who call all this "hate" or "anti-immigrant" are either completely oblivious to reality or have bought into shameless propaganda. Or, they have a well-known agenda and they should not be allowed to get away with it. Think about it, what do they say about the Catholic doctrine on say, sexuality? that it is "anti-gay" or against "equality". What do they say about worthiness to receive Holy Communion? that it is against freedom of thought. What do they say about our position on contraception? that is is "anti-woman". And so forth. They will make sure to constantly confuse legal and
illegal immigration, the actual desperate cases and criminal activities so that any objection will be perceived as the fruti of "hatred" and lack of "compassion" on a subject that tolerates - nay,
requires - much more prudential judgment than abortion or contraception, because no situation is the same as anotherwhile killing innocents is
always wrong regardless of circumstances. As Bl. John Paul II said in the massage for the world Day of Peace 2001,
'in such a complex issue there are no "magic" formulas'.
From the Catechism
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7W.HTMQuote:
2241 The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.
Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants' duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.
Address for the Word Day of Migrants and Refugees 2011
Quote:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/bened ... ay_en.htmlThe Church recognizes this right in every human person, in its dual aspect of the possibility to leave one’s country and the possibility to enter another country to look for better conditions of life" (Message for World Day of Migration 2001, 3; cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Mater et Magistra, 30; Paul VI, Encyclical Octogesima adveniens, 17). At the same time, States have the right to regulate migration flows and to defend their own frontiers, always guaranteeing the respect due to the dignity of each and every human person. Immigrants, moreover, have the duty to integrate into the host Country, respecting its laws and its national identity. "The challenge is to combine the welcome due to every human being, especially when in need, with a reckoning of what is necessary for both the local inhabitants and the new arrivals to live a dignified and peaceful life" (World Day of Peace 2001, 13). WDMR 2012
Quote:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/bened ... ay_en.htmlAsylum seekers, who fled from persecution, violence and situations that put their life at risk, stand in need of our understanding and welcome, of respect for their human dignity and rights, as well as awareness of their duties. Their suffering pleads with individual states and the international community to adopt attitudes of reciprocal acceptance, overcoming fears and avoiding forms of discrimination, and to make provisions for concrete solidarity also through appropriate structures for hospitality and resettlement programmes. All this entails mutual help between the suffering regions and those which, already for years, have accepted a large number of fleeing people, as well as a greater sharing of responsibilities among States.
The press and the other media have an important role in making known, correctly, objectively and honestly [fat chance! quoth I], the situation of those who have been forced to leave their homeland and their loved ones and want to start building a new life. 
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