American political commentator Megyn Kelly has applauded Australia’s immigration policies in an interview with Sky News host Paul Murray, saying the US should inact similar laws to stop a wave of illegal immigrants.
Kelly has had a long career as a conservative commentator and was addressing the growing illegal immigration problem in the US.
She said that after taking an in-depth look, she found Australia’s offshore processing policy, which mandates any immigrant arriving illegally to undergo, was a better way to tackle the problem.
The star then referenced the farcical Novak Djokovic saga two years ago, when Australia stood firm on denying the tennis champion entry because he opted against getting a Covid-19 vaccine, saying the country’s no-exceptions attitude caught her attention.
Kelly suggested political correctness in the US had got so out of control that it was impossible to be vocal against illegal immigration without attracting serious backlash, both publicly and in private.
“Australia is not messing around when it comes to illegal immigration,” Kelly said.
“One of the things that got me interested in this was back in 2022 when they kept out Novak Djokovic, who wouldn’t get the vaccine.
“And then it just led to this in-depth look. Australia in general is no stranger to saying, ‘No, keep the hell out’. They don’t really care.”
As the 2024 US election draws closer, Americans are more polarised than ever on the topic. Illegal border crossings in the country have averaged two million per year since 2021, the highest level ever recorded.
The dark side of Australia’s strict border policies have been exposed in damning reports released in recent years.
The truth about life for refugees who were held on Nauru and Manus Island was laid bare in a report released in 2023, with testimonies detailing horrific stories of physical and sexual violence, detainees who were “found hanging” and tents infested with rats and snakes.
The statements “shed light on a dark chapter of Australian history”, according to Maurice Blackburn lawyer Jennifer Kanis.
The Australian government has sent 1483 people to Nauru or Papua New Guinea since offshore processing began in 2012, according to the Australian Border Force. That number does not include the 55 children who were born in detention.
As of February, 61 detainees still remained on Nauru, living in the community. The government no longer publishes data on how many people remain in Papua New Guinea, after its detainment program with the PNG government was discontinued in 2021.
Murray claimed refugees arriving in Australia were just “shopping for better welfare”, referencing the fact there are several countries closer to their homeland that they could have fled to instead.
“About 20 years ago there was this sort of great difference between Australians who believed, ‘oh, we’ve got to be compassionate and anyone who can sort of float their way here should be able to become a citizen’,” he told Kelly.
“But the reality was that people were dying on that journey. Most likely the path was to go from Indonesia. Hop on a boat, pay $10,000 to a people smuggler and then you eventually float your way towards Australia.
“You get here close enough… ‘ah, well, thanks for the effort, you’re in.’
“Yes, we’re an island, but… you’ve got to come through the front door.”
“So, put simply, if you came here illegally, our position was that we will turn the boat around and we’ll send you back.”
In September last year, Kelly said the US “needs” Australia to show them how to give immigrants a “boot on the forehead”.
“We need you – we need the Aussies to come over here and take control of our immigration policy,” she said on Sky News.
“You come in illegally, you get the boot on the forehead – get out.
“That’s how I see Australia’s immigration policy when it comes to people crossing illegally. That’s what we need.”
Kelly, a longtime darling of Republican voters, started another storm with US conservatives late last year after interviewing former president Donald Trump.
Republicans took aim at the 2024 hopeful for refusing to give a clear answer on whether he believes it’s possible to change one’s sex.
He responded with a long-drawn “Ummm” and an uncomfortable laugh when host Kelly asked: “Can a man become a woman?”
“In my opinion,” Mr Trump finally said, shaking his head slightly, “you have a man, you have a woman.”
“I, I, I think part of it is birth,” he continued.
“Can the man give birth? No.”
“They’ll come up with some answer to that also some day,” Mr Trump went on.
“I heard just the other day they have a way that now the man can give birth. No, I would say I’ll continue my stance on that.”
Kelly is adamant Trump will reclaim the presidency in November when Americans go to the polls, citing recent preference data.
She claims Joe Biden’s handling the of the southern border is “devastating” for the current administration and hit back at claims every person arriving was a legitimate asylum seeker.
“It’s all bulls*** because most of the asylum seekers are not seeking asylum. It’s a lie! They could have sought asylum in Mexico. They went right through Mexico because they want to be here,” Kelly said.
“They don’t want to actually assimilate, a lot of them, but they want their government check. They want a driver’s license. They want to do all the things that American citizens do without doing any of the things that people who immigrated here legally and jumped through all the hoops had to do.”