(Government Bill 138–1, Erica Stanford)
From: Ukes Baha | 27 July 2025
Submitted in response to the call for public submissions on the Immigration (Fiscal Sustainability and System Integrity) Amendment Bill
I oppose the Immigration (Fiscal Sustainability and System Integrity) Amendment Bill in full.
Despite its bureaucratic title, this bill delivers neither fiscal sustainability nor integrity. It instead centralises unchecked executive power, normalises electronic surveillance, expands arbitrary classification, and monetises migrants to underwrite public services.
It undermines rights, weakens due process, and reshapes immigration into a tool of social control and fiscal extraction — not a fair or humane gateway to residence, safety, or belonging.
The bill grants the Minister sweeping powers to:
Problem: These powers bypass democratic oversight. They turn legal process into political discretion and allow systemic favouritism, profiling, and abuse without legal consequence.
Sections 324F and 324J introduce body-worn tracking devices for migrants under conditional release. These include GPS-enabled surveillance and enforcement powers based on collected data.
Problem: This is invasive, dehumanising, and out of step with rights-based law. Migrants under no criminal charge can be digitally tagged and monitored like prisoners — a dangerous precedent for administrative detention.
The bill allows the extended immigration levy to fund education, health infrastructure, and employer training cost offsets.
Problem: This is state cost-shifting onto migrants and employers, turning immigration into a budget band-aid. Public services should be funded by general taxation — not by exploiting newcomers who have limited access to those services.
The bill authorises special visa rules, waivers, conditions, and extensions to be applied to entire classes of people based on:
Problem: This legalises discrimination in practice. Migrants can be treated unequally not for what they’ve done — but for where they’re from. It violates principles of natural justice and undermines social cohesion.
New powers enable:
Problem: This strips refugees of durable status while offering no fair recourse. It contradicts New Zealand’s international commitments and entrenches permanent precarity.
Immigration officers may now apply for out-of-hours search warrants targeting dwellings and marae — with limited cultural safeguards.
Problem: This violates the sanctity of both home and marae. Even with procedural steps, it normalises paramilitary-style enforcement and disrespects tangata whenua authority and tikanga.
Nowhere in the bill is there mention of:
Problem: The Crown continues to legislate with colonial assumptions, erasing Māori partnership while extending state power over indigenous spaces.
Across the bill, powers are introduced or expanded with:
Problem: This is a blueprint for executive overreach. It turns temporary “flexibility” into permanent loopholes and weakens the rule of law.
The bill portrays migrants as:
Problem: It feeds anti-migrant narratives and ignores the value, humanity, and aspirations of those seeking life in Aotearoa. It is a bureaucratic betrayal of compassion and justice.
This bill does not uphold integrity — it consolidates unchecked control. It opens dangerous legislative pathways and undermines trust in the immigration system.
I recommend the Select Committee:
An immigration system must serve fairness, not fear. And no Minister should be above the law.
Respectfully submitted,
Ukes Baha
Public Health Advocate | Counsellor | Policy Analyst
ukesbaha.com