The Trump administration is expanding its controversial immigration policies onto the global stage, directly involving key allies like Australia. In an unprecedented diplomatic move, US embassies in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several Western European nations have been instructed to collect and transmit local migrant-related crime data to Washington.
Unprecedented Request and its Implications
This directive, issued in late November 2025, represents a significant extension of US anti-immigration efforts beyond its own borders. A US State Department spokesperson justified the action by labelling mass migration an "existential threat to Western civilisation", claiming the data collection aims to assist allies in reforming their immigration systems.
However, criminology experts Professor Leanne Weber and Professor Marinella Marmo argue this request is both unprecedented and extremely harmful. They identify two primary concerns: it embeds the Trump administration's criminalisation of migrants into international diplomacy, and it perpetuates the false narrative that migrants are disproportionately responsible for crime.
The Australian Context and Crimmigration Trends
Australia, described as a "great ally" in the US briefing, has faced its own controversies regarding immigration enforcement. The US spokesperson specifically warned Australia that importing individuals from radically different cultures without proper mechanisms could lead to political unrest and economic instability.
This approach aligns with what experts term "crimmigration" - the merging of immigration enforcement with crime control. In Australia, this has resulted in harsher consequences for non-citizens compared to citizens, even for those without violent convictions or sometimes no convictions at all.
The 2023 High Court NZYQ case, which ruled indefinite detention unconstitutional, led to the release of hundreds of non-citizens and triggered heated parliamentary debates. The government responded with emergency laws featuring new visa regimes with parole-like conditions, new criminal offences with mandatory minimum sentences, and preventative detention measures modelled on counter-terrorism provisions.
Evidence Versus Rhetoric
Decades of empirical research in the United States consistently shows that migrants do not offend at disproportionate rates, despite persistent political claims to the contrary. Similarly, Australian public inquiries and criminology research have repeatedly found claims linking migrants to crime are exaggerated and harmful.
Professor Weber and colleagues argue that targeting non-citizens for punishment and exclusion represents a retreat into ultra-nationalist rhetoric rather than effective crime prevention. They advocate for addressing the social determinants that increase marginalised communities' contact with the justice system, including systemic racism, rather than scapegoating migrants.
The recent anti-immigration rallies across Australia and adoption of "mass migration" terminology suggest fertile ground for Trumpian-style immigration approaches, despite evidence showing migration doesn't represent the existential threat claimed by the US administration.
