Australian Border Force (ABF) officers planned to randomly check people's visas at taxi stands during Operation Fortitude in Melbourne's CBD in August, documents obtained by the ABC show.

Internal emails obtained by 7.30 under a Freedom of Information Request show that six ABF officers were to conduct "status checks" at two taxi ranks, speaking with members of the public who they suspected could be in Australia illegally and without a valid visa.

The operation, in conjunction with Victorian Police, was expected to be conducted bi-monthly to address safety on public transport in Melbourne.

Operation Fortitude, which was to include ABF officers as well as police and other authorities, was cancelled only hours after it was announced after protesters angered by the ABF's involvement swarmed Flinders Street Station.

The ABF later blamed a "clumsily worded" media release for the cancellation.

Yet a week before the operation, on August 20, detailed "talking points" were provided by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection media team, describing the role of ABF officers as being "positioned at various locations within the Melbourne CBD, speaking to individuals who we suspect may be in Australia illegally without a current and valid visa".

The points said if officers were asked by journalists who they would target they should reply: "We will be speaking with any individual we cross paths with."

It also suggested officers should reply that they "employ a range of techniques to determine if we think someone is demonstrating traits which indicate there is a need to conduct a more in-depth assessment of their current visa status".

Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg apologised for the "clumsily worded" media release. ( ABC News: Adam Kennedy )

During Senate estimates this week, Secretary of Immigration Michael Pezzullo and Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg both apologised for the "clumsily worded" media release.

"It is clear that the media release issued that morning was very badly worded and gave rise to the impression that the ABF has general powers of questioning people in the street," Mr Pezzullo said on Monday.

"It does not, and I apologise for the impression that was wrongly created.

"We certainly don't rely on racial profiling at all."

But the talking points and associated media release were approved within a number of levels of the Immigration Department, including by Don Smith, who was the Regional Commander of Victoria Tasmania.

Mr Smith made one suggestion, asking whether officers were to interview every person they came into contact with.

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The documents also show a number of edits.

The final version was sent to Immigration Minister Peter Dutton's office on Wednesday, August 26.

The media advisor replied: "OK thanks for letting me know."

But by midday of the operation, panic set in.

On Friday, August 28, a flurry of emails from the department were sent due to an "onslaught" of media attention.

At 12:41pm, an email from the office of Mr Dutton said: "The MO [Immigration Minister Peter Dutton's Office] is now getting an onslaught of calls regarding this operation suggesting that the ABF are racially profiling and that we're now a police state!"

At 1:08pm, an email labelled "URGENT" from the Crisis Coordination Centre notified the department of a snap protest organised by the Refugee Action Collective outside Flinders Street Station.

"The speed with which protesters emerged was a shock to staff, but we felt safe at all times," the email said.

"I'll follow up with any ongoing issues or concerns next week," another email said.

On the Saturday, Mr Quaedvlieg was demanding answers.

"It appears we had sufficient time and adequate filters in place to effectively catch and amend the clumsily worded MR [media release] and TPs [talking points]; and yet the system components, individually or collectively failed to do so," Mr Quaedvlieg said.

The documents show there were five opportunities to correct the media release for Operation Fortitude, including within Mr Dutton's office.

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