Senior Opposition figures are moving to open a second front on the Government's immigration policies by highlighting the dangers of boosting migrant numbers as the economy falters and unemployment rises.

Coalition figures acknowledge the risk of being accused of playing the race card, but say Labor's plans to boost immigration levels at a time of rising unemployment will undermine public confidence in the immigration system. ''Rudd has got it completely wrong,'' one senior Coalition figure said.

''Howard used to bring in increasing numbers of migrants based on jobs growth and lower unemployment, and that kept the public happy. Rudd is bringing in a massive surge ... at the same time as jobs are disappearing, a recipe for disaster.'' The Government announced a 20per cent increase in migration numbers in the budget, from 159,000 in 2007-08 to an estimated 190,300 in 2008-09, in order to deal with chronic labour shortages and wages inflation pressure.

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