New Delhi, Sept. 1 -- For decades, the United States sold itself to the world through a powerful promise: regardless of birthplace, people willing to work, study and contribute could find opportunity in America. Donald Trump's second presidency is replacing that promise with something narrower - an immigration system increasingly organised around suspicion, wealth and exclusion.
The latest measures show how far the crackdown has travelled beyond undocumented migration. The administration has disrupted immigrant visa processing as consular officials are trained under tougher "public charge" standards, while preparing to revoke business and tourist visas of potentially 200,000 foreigners who subsequently sought asylum. The message is increasingly difficult to misunderstand: entering America legally no longer guarantees that Washington will treat an immigrant as welcome.
Legal migration targeted
This exposes the contradiction at the heart of Trump's immigration politics. The administration repeatedly insists that its objection is to illegal immigration. Yet spouses, parents and children seeking lawful family reunification now face greater uncertainty. Applicants following established procedures are being subjected to an immigration philosophy increasingly concerned with whether newcomers might someday require government assistance.
That transforms immigration from a question of legality into one of economic worthiness. America is moving towards a system where wealth provides reassurance while vulnerability generates suspicion.
Governments have every right to screen immigrants and prevent fraud. But legitimate enforcement becomes something different when entire categories of applicants are treated as potential liabilities before entering the country.
Asylum under assault
The proposed mass cancellation of B1 and B2 visas takes this philosophy further. Seeking asylum is itself a legal process. Whether a claim ultimately succeeds is another matter, but applying for protection cannot automatically be equated with deception.
Cancelling visas rendered practically irrelevant by pending asylum applications appears less an enforcement necessity than political theatre. Its purpose is deterrence: demonstrating that Washington can impose consequences even on migrants who entered through authorised channels.
Trump has repeatedly portrayed asylum as a loophole exploited by foreigners. Such sweeping suspicion blurs the distinction between combating fraudulent applications and undermining asylum itself - a protection created precisely because genuine persecution cannot always be anticipated before somebody begins a journey.
America diminishes itself
The greater damage may ultimately be inflicted on America. Its universities, laboratories, technology companies and businesses became globally dominant partly because the country attracted ambitious people from everywhere. Immigration was not charity; it became one of America's greatest competitive advantages.
Trump risks converting that advantage into self-inflicted isolation. Skilled workers can choose other economies, entrepreneurs can build companies elsewhere and students can select universities where immigration rules are less politically volatile.
A superpower does not demonstrate strength by making families fear consular appointments or treating foreigners principally as potential burdens. America became powerful because people wanted to enter, contribute and belong. Trump appears determined to make that aspiration harder. Closing America's doors may satisfy his political base; it could also leave the country behind those doors poorer, smaller and considerably less attractive to the world.
Views expressed are personal.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.