Australia Under the Microscope as US Probes Migrant-Linked Crime and Censorship

Australian authorities will come under scrutiny after a U.S. directive instructed its embassies to study the potential impact of mass migration on public safety and human rights.

In a statement posted on X, the U.S. Department of State said “mass migration poses an existential threat to Western civilization and undermines the stability of key American allies.”

U.S. embassies have also been instructed to report on policies that hamper discussion on the impact of mass migration.

“Officials will also report policies that punish citizens who object to continued mass migration and document crimes and human rights abuses committed by people of a migration background,” the statement read.

The Department pointed to several examples including:

“In the United Kingdom, thousands of girls have been victimised in Rotherham, Oxford, and Newcastle by grooming gangs involving migrant men.

“Many girls were left to suffer unspeakable abuse for years before authorities stepped in.

“In Sweden, an Eritrean migrant convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl was allowed to remain in the country after a judge ruled that the incident was not an ‘exceptionally serious crime’ and did not warrant deportation.”

Further examples were given, including the gang rape of a 15-year-old German girl, and a case where a German woman who insulted one of the rapists online was given a harsher sentence than the perpetrators themselves.

“U.S. officials will now scrutinise policies in Western nations that give leniency to migrant crime and human rights abuses, or that create two-tiered systems that prioritise migrants at the expense of their own citizens,” the department added.

The State Department said it supported the sovereignty of its allies and stands ready to assist to solve the “global crisis of mass migration.”

The Epoch Times contacted both the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the U.S. Embassy in Canberra for comment.

However, state leaders will likely face scrutiny for their handling of law and order, while federal authorities will face questions on their migration policies.

While the Australian government has yet to issue an official statement, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon responded saying, “New Zealand’s immigration policy is our decision.”

Greens MP Accuses Trump Administration of Interfering With Other Governments

Meanwhile, Australian Greens MP David Shoebridge condemned the policy as a “dangerous export of the Trump administration,” in comments to the ABC.

Shoebridge said it was part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “right-wing, anti-migrant policies,” and accused the administration of not showing restraint with interfering in overseas governments.

“The U.S. vice president has said that he wants U.S. power—U.S. trade power, U.S. diplomatic power, U.S. economic power—to lecture and force the United States’ allies to change their immigration policies, change other domestic policies.

“There’s a clear pattern here, this isn’t just gathering information for curiosity’s sake. This is to weaponise the information against the United States’ own allies.”

Crime in Australia

According to the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data, 14 percent of prisoners in the country were born overseas, including New Zealand, the UK, and Vietnam among the highest groups.

From June 30, 2023 to June 30, 2024, there was a 2 percent overall increase in sentenced prisoner numbers across the board, with an 8 percent rise in sexual assault and offences of a sexual nature.

Meanwhile, Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) Victoria recorded a record-high number of criminal incidents in the 12 months to mid-2025—a total of 483,583 cases and an increase of 18.3 percent.

This comes as youth offending rose to its highest level on record in 2024.

CSA data also shows a 33 percent increase in the number of crimes committed by Sudanese-born criminals across Victoria in the past few years.

Machete incidents rose from 552 in 2015 to 2,061 in 2024, prompting the Allan Labor government to install “machete bins” in an amnesty before the blades are outlawed.

Earlier this year, Victoria’s state opposition said a crime was committed in the state every 50.3 seconds.