What the past few days have demonstrated is that we need a better asylum system, and not a harsher one. The last government created the small boats issue by closing down safe and legal routes.
And Tony Blair's policy of dispersal - basically, sending asylum seekers to poorer parts of the country while their claims are assessed - stoked resentment and division that racists were able to exploit.
A more humane, kinder, and fairer asylum system would be better for everybody.