Australia has unveiled a shake-up of its migration system, targeting visa-hoppers, overstayers, international students and backpackers as the federal government seeks to bring migration down further.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced the reforms on Thursday, which include restrictions on international students bringing family members, new rules aimed at preventing "visa hopping", and caps on working holidaymakers seeking to extend their stays.
The government wants to bring net overseas migration down from 292,100 to 245,000 in the year to July 2027, and to 225,000 each year thereafter.
The United States has pursued what US President Donald Trump has promised to be the "largest domestic deportation" operation in US history, built on aggressive enforcement.
The Department of Homeland Security says the Trump administration has deported more than 605,000 "illegal aliens", with a further 1.9 million "self-deporting".
The administration also paused visa approvals for people from 75 "high-risk" countries — Afghanistan, Brazil, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Thailand and Yemen — a move a federal judge struck down last month.
In August, the department said that since President Donald Trump returned to power in January 2025, some 175,000 foreigners had seen their US visas revoked on grounds ranging from criminal offences, including driving under the influence, to praising the killing of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
Under Prime Minister Mark Carney, Canada has cut its temporary resident target to 385,000 this year, down 25 per cent from the 516,600 before planned for 2026.
While reducing temporary migration, Canada plans to stabilise permanent migration at 380,000 admissions a year between 2026 and 2028.