United States’ harsh deportations reveal its deeper economic crisis

Al Mamun Harun Ur Rashid :

The United States in recent months has been deporting undocumented immigrants in increasingly harsh ways, sending them back to their homes including Bangladesh with bruised dignity.

Reports from Bangladesh and beyond show people treated as burdens, not human beings, shackled and handcuffed like criminals throughout their flights.

Trump defends the deportations as “upholding the law,” but immigrants aren’t the problem. The real issue is America’s slipping grip on the global economic order.

For decades, the United States thrived by projecting itself as the richest economy, a moral leader, and a land of opportunity. This image gave America soft power far beyond its military or financial reach.

But today, the economic map of the world has shifted. The center of growth has moved away from Europe and North America toward Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The United States still tops the list with a GDP of $30.3 trillion. But China is leading the second largest economy at $19.5 trillion. Germany ranks third at $4.9 trillion, Japan fourth at $4.4 trillion, and India fifth at $4.3 trillion.

Yet the debt picture tells another story: as of March 2025, US national debt stands at $36.22 trillion, while China’s (September 2024) is $2.52 trillion and India’s (September 2024) just $712 billion.

As America drains its resources in wars and proxy wars, the Global South driven by young populations and growing industries is reshaping the balance of global economic power.

Despite such an economic shift, the United States, stuck in a paradox, is still enormously wealthy, but its share of global GDP has steadily declined. In 1960, America accounted for about 40 percent of the world’s economy but World Bank data show the U.S. currently accounts for roughly 27.5% of world GDP in nominal terms.

The dollar remains dominant, but alternatives are emerging from the Euro to China’s Renminbi, to experiments in de-dollarisation among BRICS nations. These challenges are weakening the U.S. economy, raising concerns within the administration.

Unable to confront its economic challenges, Washington now views immigrants as threats rather than contributors, with deportations highlighting a deeper sense of national insecurity.

Immigrants, including some of the brightest minds, are not draining Uncle Sam rather helping it survive. In 2023, immigrants paid nearly $652 billion in taxes (federal, state, and local), a hefty sum contributed by both documented and undocumented workers.

Economists also estimate that undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in 2022 in combined taxes again, more than many give them credit for.

Immigrants do the jobs that keep cities, farms, and factories running because there are not enough native workers. Without them, the U.S. would have big shortages in healthcare, construction, and other areas. Instead of seeing them as helpful, the country is treating them badly.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, America absorbed waves of immigrants including Italians, Irish, Jews and Asians often under difficult circumstances. Many were poor and unskilled, but their labour fueled industrial growth, built railways, and transformed cities.

That era cemented the US as a global powerhouse. Today, instead of staying open to immigrants, America is pulling back and becoming defensive.

The recent deportation of 30 Bangladeshi nationals from the U.S., reportedly in handcuffs and shackles, has sparked criticism. Upon arrival in Dhaka, the deportees were still chained and described as “devastated” after the journey.

The Bangladesh government expressed strong disapproval, with officials from the Home Ministry, intelligence agencies, and the U.S. Embassy overseeing the return. BRAC provided financial assistance to help the deportees reach their homes.

Likewise, in India, opposition lawmakers protest in parliament, in February calling the deportation process “degrading” and raising serious concerns about human dignity.

These reactions highlight a growing international outcry against shackling deportees and underscore the urgent need for a more humane and respectful approach to immigration enforcement.

Mexico, while cooperating with the U.S. on deportations, has raised concerns about the potential strain on its resources. President Claudia Sheinbaum has emphasised that immigrants should not be viewed as “criminals” and has called for a more humane approach to deportations.

When Colombia refused deportees on US military flights, Trump hit back with a 25% tariff hike on its imports. This is how the Trump administration wants to make America great.

This way America wants to be great again. The Marshall Plan after World War II rebuilt Europe and secured America’s leadership for decades. Now, instead of offering global leadership through investment, aid, or openness, Washington is retreating into fortress policies and senseless sanctions. This is how empires lose influence, not with a single collapse, but with a gradual erosion of values.

The Democratic Party has consistently opposed the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation policies, emphasising human rights and legal protections. Democratic lawmakers have also taken legal action to challenge the administration’s policies.

In November 2024, they pre-drafted lawsuits to contest Trump’s plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, aiming to disrupt what they termed the “largest deportation operation” in U.S. history.

America’s leaders like to argue that strict deportations protect national security. But the deeper insecurity lies elsewhere: hegemony of capitalists, stagnant wages, crumbling infrastructure, healthcare crisis, and the looming shadow of national debt. Deporting a few thousand migrants will not solve any of these problems. Instead, the U.S. should focus on policies that strengthen its economy and society.

Foreign policy should adapt to a multipolar world, embracing cooperation with emerging economies rather than retreating behind defensive measures.

The real question is whether the U.S. wants to remain a country defined by generosity and confidence or one remembered for fear and cruelty. Immigrants are not America’s problem. The problem is a changed economic order in which Washington is no longer unrivaled. Deportations may hide that truth for a moment, but they cannot change it.
If the United States truly wants to preserve its global stature, it must embrace openness, generosity, and faith in human potential, because shackles and handcuffs will not build its future.

(The Writer is the Diplomatic Correspondent of The New Nation)