Is the famous American Green Card turning red? Or is that a part of the fifty shades of grey that has become the hallmark of US immigration laws? The answer is not quite blowing in the wind. It is clear as day that under President Donald Trump and his belligerent right-wing administration, very little is left to the imagination. But then, there is something called the letter of the law. Here is where it is becoming increasingly evident that even if you are a legal alien in the US of A, perhaps, even a legal local, there is little to stop law enforcers from violating the law.

I want to call this “legal stalking,” taking a pick from some Indian journalists who describe as “legal terrorism” the practice of some entities to stop the publication or broadcast of some content by invoking libel laws to erect roadblocks. It is easy for women to understand stalking: there is somebody who hovers close to you or walks steadily behind with snooping eyes as if nothing is abnormal, but there is somebody out to get you. It feels like that.

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Official stalking is only the latest from what could be seen as a key part of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) toolkit: You have administrative powers to breathe down the necks of those you do not like. Who these people are can be of any hue: from a country you suspect, a race or nationality you are not comfortable with, a legal status you do not respect, a cause that goes against your own, a political party that you defeated, or an ideology you do not support (though permitted under the US Constitution).

The latest, and possibly the most controversial among a series of actions from the Trump administration is its way of dealing with US Green Card holders, who are eligible for US citizenship but have chosen to not use the facility. The net seems to include some other usually convenient visa categories that come pretty close to Green Cards, such as the H-1B visa (long-term resident work permit) or the F1 visa (for non-immigrant international students). Attorneys are reported to be advising clients with such visas not to leave the US because American consulates are causing delays in stamping of visas in home countries. Other constricting actions include secondary inspection of permits including “extreme vetting” and detention at US airports on the return of such visa or Green Card holders.

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This is what I call immigrant-stalking, including in its sweep anybody who fits into the current state of visitor profiling favoured by the Trump administration. Think of this as the opposite of the old rock hit Hotel California that ends with “You can check out anytime you like/but you can never leave”. Under America’s new-normal regime, “You sure have the permission to return/but they may never let you in!”
You only have to look back at various measures Trump and his cohort have imposed or talked about since taking power – or even during the presidential election campaign that preceded the White House diktats -- to see a distinct xenophobic pattern.

Recent efforts to discourage immigration include potentially imposing travel bans on visitors from as many as 43 countries to veiled threats held out to students like India’s Ranjani Srinivasan, who “self-deported” under administrative snooping because she allegedly supported the militant Hamas group. All that has been evident is that the 37-year-old PhD scholar took part in a democratic protest on Palestine permitted under US law.

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The “red list” for a planned travel ban includes citizens of not just usual suspects such as Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, and Syria, but even peaceful Bhutan, on the ground that data reported a surge in Bhutanese visa violations. The country’s proximity to China may be a factor.

Red-flag measures include mass deportation of undocumented immigrants; suspension of admission of refugees fleeing persecution; closure of entry of individuals from crisis-hit regions like Haiti, Venezuela and Ukraine; and a proposal to create a registry for undocumented immigrants -- with potential penalties.
One White House order calls for “detaining, to the maximum extent authorized by law, aliens apprehended on suspicion of violating Federal or State law, until such time as they are removed from the United States.”

Read that again: Suspicion is enough; conviction is not imperative or necessary. Law enforcement has now taken the place of justice authorised by an independent judiciary after due process.

White House is not exactly white anymore, unless you swap the colour of purity with the preferred colour of skin. This is not a mere pushback from the DEI (Diversity-Equity-Inclusion) of the Democrats, but a virtual 180-degree turn. The Green Card is flashing red signals, while various shades of visitors and residents sing the American blues. This is not quite the rainbow that wannabe US citizens were chasing.

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(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)