The Minister of Immigration is within his rights to grant residency to a controversial drug dealer.

The National Party's Michael Woodhouse has demanded Iain Lees-Galloway explain why he used his power of "absolute discretion" to cancel deportation liability and grant residence to Karel Sroubek, also known as Jan Antolik.

Immigration lawyer Richard Mcleod says that we likely will never know why Sroubek was granted residency, but Lees-Galloway is allowed to do it and likely has strong reasons for granting the exemption. 

He says that there have been strict conditions imposed on the residency.

"It doesn't seem to be a soft touch there." 

LISTEN TO RICHARD MCLEOD TALK WITH THE WEEKEND COLLECTIVE ABOVE