Refugee advocates estimate there may be as many as 100 Tamil asylum seeker families with Australian-born children, exposing the Morrison government to a raft of emotionally charged appeals demanding they be allowed to stay.

As Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese branded the government "un-Australian" for wanting to deport the Sri Lankan Tamil family at the heart of the controversy, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton criticised the parents for "dragging" their children through the courts in the hope of a reprieve.