Australia to detain tourists who overstay visas amid immigration crackdown

More than 77,000 visa overstayers face detention or departure as Australia cracks down on immigration violations.Published On 18 Sep 202618 Sep 2026Australia will begin detaining visa overstayers as part of a broader immigration crackdown, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced.The Australian Border Force will expand its team by 100 compliance officers, who will work to detain or encourage the departure of roughly 77,000 people currently living in Australia without a valid visa, Burke said Thursday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3The US border runs straight through the World Cuplist 2 of 3Trump plans largest mass visa cancellation in history: Who will it affect?list 3 of 3US says far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has been deported to UKend of listHe said the policy was designed to reintroduce consequences for overstaying.“Before 2015, we had a routine process in Australia for overstayers where, when people had overstayed a visa, we would bring people into detention centres … and within a few weeks they would organise their own flight and leave,” Burke announced at the National Press Club.To aid the operation, 250 new detention beds will be created, including...