The Trump administration’s actions in multiple spheres are contributing to the unraveling of the United States’ foundational constitutional principles.
Something of this sort is currently occurring in America these days. Americans who brought Donald Trump back into the Oval Office for a second term, and that too with a much larger electoral majority, are proving to be anathema to the ideals and philosophical principles of America’s constitution.
Even as America’s allies are finding it extremely difficult in dealing with a mercurial and boisterous president, American citizens are themselves appearing to be in a state of extreme regret regarding their decision to reappoint Trump to the highest political office of the United States.
This is particularly consequential in two respects—the idea of belongingness and inter-state people to people relations.
No Place for Others
The America of today isn’t at all what it used to be. Successive American administrations, whether liberal or conservative, boasted of the pluralist ethos of American society. Unfortunately, under Trump, America is slowly degenerating into narrow nationalism—this is represented by white Christian nationalism which seeks to ‘preserve’ America’s social core—White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP).
The WASP base represents the core of Trump’s MAGA, or Make America Great Again, vote base. This voter base, or vote bank, interprets America’s social identity as anchored in racial terms where fair complexion is used as the marker of belonging. They profess the melting pot theory of social anthropology, wherein people of different ethnic backgrounds are required to eschew their differences and identify themselves with the dominant socio-cultural belief system.
Any individual with a different skin color, accent, or political views is vilified, both personally and professionally. Africans, Latinos, and most recently Indians are becoming targets of a vicious propaganda that ranges from questioning their patriotism to their very presence on American soil. They are trolled and called names just because of their social identity.
Immigration is a Crime
Yuval Noah Harari, an Israeli historian and public intellectual, in his book Sapiens—A Brief History of Humankind underlined the idea that the history of humanity is the history of migration. Human societies across the world have evolved through contact with each other. This idea has perpetuated through the ages and acquired a new momentum in the ongoing era of globalization.
But in Donald Trump’s America, immigration is a crime of the highest order. ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the immigration regulation federal body, has been given a carte blanche by the Trump administration to act against immigrants, both legal and illegal. Not only are the ICE officers trigger-happy, but they also demonstrate a chronic lack of humanitarian considerations when it comes to dealing with people from weak socio-economic backgrounds and age groups.
The recent spate of large-scale protests in many American cities against ICE in the aftermath of some fatal shootings during anti-immigration raids in general and Trump’s anti-immigration policy in particular is symptomatic of the domestic opposition to the Trump administration’s inhuman and anti-immigrant attitude.
Today, no matter how talented, hard-working, law-abiding, peace-loving, and socially conscious an individual you are, Trump’s hardline anti-immigration policy will not only not allow you entry to America but will also subject you to torture and violation of your human rights norms during your capture and subsequently, deportation.
Trump, an imperialist to the core, has made it absolutely clear to the rest of the world that he is committed to not making America great again, but white again. This is particularly significant for countries of the Global South, like India, that sought to develop a strong relationship with the Trump administration.
It is time New Delhi did some introspection and framed alternatives as far as the development of its human capital is concerned.
Pranay Kumar Shome, a research analyst who is a PhD candidate at Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Bihar, India
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