There's potential for the immigration system to become bogged down in bureaucracy as the Government pushes a harder line stance.  

It's proposed a series of reforms, involving a greater use of deportation and harsher penalties for migrant exploitation. 

NZ Immigration Law Principal Lawyer Aaron Martin says by making more people potentially liable for deportation, we'll likely see the number of cases and investigations going up.  

He told Mike Hosking one issue that hasn’t really been explored is the low threshold of offending that makes someone liable for deportation, which needs to be reviewed. 

Martin says that an incident a citizen would be fined for would see someone on a visa put through the expensive exercise of deportation liability investigations, and potentially appeals, which ties up taxpayer resources.  

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