Donald Trump has publicly endorsed Australia’s controversial asylum seeker detainment policy.

This morning, the US President posted four Australian government signs depicting a tough stance on border protection, with slogans like “If you come here by boat without a visa you won’t be settled in Australia” and “Australia’s borders are closed to illegal migration”.

He said “Much can be learned!” from the government’s ongoing policy.

These flyers depict Australia’s policy on Illegal Immigration. Much can be learned! pic.twitter.com/QgGU0gyjRS — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2019

Australia’s policy of detaining asylum seekers offshore has received much global condemnation. Today, The New York Times posted a wrap-up entitled: “A Timeline of Despair in Australia’s Offshore Detention Centers.”

The piece details the dozens of reported suicide and self-harm attempts that have occurred since the May 18 election results.

The reports include a 31-year-old Indian man who lit himself and his room on fire, a Manus asylum seeker who swallowed a nail clipper, and an Iraqi asylum seeker who tried to hang himself and was saved when he was cut down by a guard.

“Human rights groups call them a violation of international law. The Australian government says they are crucial to regulating the flow of immigration,” the report says.

“But one thing is indisputable about Australia’s offshore detention centres on the islands of Manus and Nauru: Despair is soaring among asylum seekers being held there.”

In 2016, the publication ran a similar feature called ‘Broken Men in Paradise’, in which the offshore detention policy was deemed a “growing embarrassment” to our country.

Mr Trump’s tweet comes as he faces a growing predicament with immigration in the US, where migrant children are reportedly living in squalid conditions with inadequate food, water and sanitation.

Yesterday, a photo of a man and his 23-month-old daughter lying face down in shallow water along the Rio Grande bank went viral.

The photograph was seen to highlight the perils faced by mostly Central American migrants fleeing violence and poverty and hoping for asylum in the United States.

Yesterday two babies, a toddler and a woman were found dead near the US-Mexico border. Authorities believe the four may have been dead for days before the bodies were discovered on Sunday in the Rio Grande Valley. No details were released on the victims’ relationship.

It was the latest grim discovery of migrants who died while trying to cross the perilous desert and the swollen Rio Grande.

Migrant families have been coming over the border in unprecedented numbers in recent months, reaching a peak in May, when 84,000 adults and children travelling together were apprehended.

Nearly 500,000 immigrants have been detained at the border since the start of the year, resulting in dangerous overcrowding in US holding centres.

A total of 283 migrant deaths were recorded along the 2000-mile border last year. The death toll so far this year was not immediately released.

— with AP