The Knucklehead of the Day award

Goes to Australia's Immigration minister Amanda Vanstone. The immigration departments she overseas have either detained several legal aliens or in one woman's instance, deported the person. When the mistakes have been discovered either officials have done nothing or fixed the matter by paying the victims under the condition they remain silent.

The worst case involved the handling of Vivien Alvarez Solon, a legal immigrant who was deported back to native Philippines in 2001. Immigration Officials in both 2003 and 2004 discovered the mistake but did nothing. It was the media's discovery of Ms. Alvarez Solon in a Manila nursing home that brought this all to light.

I'm all for enforcing immigration laws, but I've chronicled before its too often legal immigrants who get maltreated by the bureaucracy not illegals. For allowing this bungling to go on, and for not resigning, Amanda Vanstone is today's Knucklehead of the day.

Thursday Special/Open Post/Lunch- Jo's Cafe, Mudville Gazette and Basil's Blog

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian immigration officials wrongfully deported a gravely-ill woman to the Philippines then covered up the mistake as she spent four years in a Manila hospice for the dying, a government report has found.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman's report called the handling of Vivien Alvarez Solon's case "catastrophic", sparking fresh calls for the resignation of Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone.

"This report highlights some critical failures in public administration that had a dramatic adverse effect on an Australian citizen," Ombudsman John McMillan said.

Vanstone, already under fire for a series of bungles involving Australia's hardline immigration policies, announced a 230 million dollar (175 million US) program to fix her embattled department.

"I also want to repeat the Australian government's apology to Ms Alvarez and her family," she told reporters.

The Philippines-born woman was mistakenly deported as an illegal immigrant in July 2001, shortly after a car accident caused spinal injuries so severe her lawyers said she was unable to sign her name before boarding the plane.

The report by former Victoria state police commissioner Neil Comrie found at least three immigration officers became aware of the mistake in 2003 and 2004 but made no attempt to rectify it.

Alvarez Solon, who has two Australian-based children aged 17 and nine, was eventually discovered in a Manila hospice last May after media coverage of her case.

The report said the immigration department only acted after persistent efforts by Alvarez Solon's estranged Australian husband to discover her fate.

It said her physical and mental health problems had been ignored by poorly-trained immigration officers.

"The management of Vivian's case was very poor, lacking rigour and accountability," it said.

Alvarez Solon remains in the Philippines but her lawyer George Newhouse said she could return to her adopted homeland within days if he could negotiate a satisfactory compensation package with Canberra.

Newhouse said "heads should roll" in the conservative government.

"It's not for me whether Amanda Vanstone or the Attorney-General Mr. (Philip) Ruddock have paid a suitable price (but) as far as I can tell they've paid no price at all," he told reporters.

Asked about Alvarez Solon's health, he replied: "She's feeling a lot better than she was after four years in a hospice for the dying without treatment."

Vanstone said one of the officers accused of involvement in the cover up had resigned and the other two were under investigation but no criminal charges were expected to be laid.

The minister said she had no intention of resigning over the bungle.

The Alvarez Solon case came to light after it was revealed another Australian, German-born Cornelia Rau, was wrongfully imprisoned for 10 months as an illegal immigrant.