‘Much can be learned!’ Donald Trump praises Australia’s immigration policy as he shares old government posters declaring ‘our borders are closed’
- Australian government launched campaign against illegal immigration in 2014
- Mr Trump tweeted some of the posters from the campaign and praised them
- One poster shows a boat on a rough, open ocean with the warning: ‘NO WAY’
US President Donald Trump has pointed to an old Australian government campaign to deter illegal immigrants as an example to follow in his own border protection agenda.
Mr Trump, who is on his way to the G20 leaders meeting in the Japanese city of Osaka on Wednesday, posted a tweet to his 61.4 million followers with pictures of the 2014 posters.
‘These flyers depict Australia’s policy on Illegal Immigration,’ Mr Trump wrote. ‘Much can be learned!’
US President Donald Trump is using an old Australian government poster campaign to deter illegal immigrants to support his own controversial border protection agenda
![The president's strong stance against illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico into the US has become a major issue ahead of the 2020 presidential election](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/27/02/15307374-7186189-image-a-3_1561598159720.jpg)
The president’s strong stance against illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico into the US has become a major issue ahead of the 2020 presidential election
One of the Australian posters is a photo of a boat on a rough, open ocean with the warning: ‘NO WAY. YOU WILL NOT MAKE AUSTRALIA HOME’.
Another says: ‘Australia’s borders are closed to illegal immigration’.
The president’s strong stance against illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico into the US was a major issue in his 2016 election campaign and was expected to be the focus of his upcoming 2020 re-election bid.
The posters were created as part of the Australian government’s Operation Sovereign Borders campaign after Tony Abbott won power in 2013.
Current Prime Minister Scott Morrison was Immigration Minister at the time.
The aim was to target people smuggling and illegal immigrants arriving by sea from west, south and southeast Asia.
The posters were regularly published in the target countries in 18 languages; English, Arabic, Sudanese Arabic, Dari, Urdu, Pashto, Farsi, Kurdish, Somali, Nepalese, Hindi, Tamil, Sinhala, Bengali, Burmese, Rohingya, Indonesian and Vietnamese.
![One of the Australian posters is a photo of a boat on a rough, open ocean with the warning: 'NO WAY. YOU WILL NOT MAKE AUSTRALIA HOME'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/27/02/15307370-7186189-image-a-11_1561598314157.jpg)
One of the Australian posters is a photo of a boat on a rough, open ocean with the warning: ‘NO WAY. YOU WILL NOT MAKE AUSTRALIA HOME’
![The aim was to target people smuggling and illegal immigrants arriving by sea from West, South and Southeast Asia](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/27/02/15307382-7186189-image-a-12_1561598429191.jpg)
The aim was to target people smuggling and illegal immigrants arriving by sea from West, South and Southeast Asia
![Another says: 'Australia's borders are closed to illegal immigration'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/27/03/15307378-7186189-Another_says_Australia_s_borders_are_closed_to_illegal_immigrati-a-53_1561602967325.jpg)
Another says: ‘Australia’s borders are closed to illegal immigration’