January 17, 2026 07:06 AM IST First published on: Jan 17, 2026 at 07:05 AM ISTTwo visits to the United States of America in a span of four months — between August last year and January this year — brought out the stark reality of a nation in a dangerous drift, never seen before. When I visited Washington, DC in August last year, the debate was largely over tariffs. The Trump administration imposed tariffs on more than three dozen countries, including India. India was initially subjected to a 25 per cent slab, which was subsequently raised to 50 per cent. By then, India had already negotiated a free trade agreement with the US, the culmination of which would have addressed the tariff issue.Opponents of US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies believed they would lead to greater economic challenges like higher inflation, while supporters argued that the tariffs would strengthen the US economy and industry. Trump claimed that “anywhere between $600 billion to $1 trillion will be taken in” over a year and told a cabinet meeting in early December that “at some point in the not-too-distant future, you won’t even have income tax to pay because the money we’re taking in is so great”.AdvertisementThe main concern for India at that time was to clinch the trade deal and address the issue of high tariffs, which were impacting sections of Indian exports. Indian immigrants were in a bind, with some visiting Indian leaders taunting them about not doing enough to build domestic pressure for the trade deal on the one hand, and the perceived economic benefits and the need to show loyalty to Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) rhetoric on the other. Their dilemma was understandable as the growing MAGA movement was demanding greater loyalty from American citizens, and immigrant communities were under greater scrutiny.Four months down the line, when I visited Washington, DC earlier this week, the dilemma seems to have converted into a real worry. Some very fundamental changes are taking place in American society and domestic politics that are causing serious concern among Indian immigrants. On September 10 last year, Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old conservative activist and the founder of an avowedly right-wing organisation called Turning Point, was murdered at a university in Utah. That murder became a turning point in MAGA politics in the US. Although Kirk’s alleged murderer, Tyler James Robinson, was not an immigrant, the MAGA movement soon became a hotspot for “anti-immigrantism”.That the US was a nation built by various immigrant communities over the last five centuries was an idea widely accepted globally. In 1908, Israel Zangwill, a renowned American Zionist leader known for articulating the idea of American multiculturalism, wrote a play titled The Melting Pot that portrayed the US as a crucible where various global identities fuse into one national identity while retaining their own flavours. That idea led to “Americanisation” programmes like teaching English and civic behaviour in schools, which the immigrant societies gladly accepted. Some liberals later described the American reality as a “salad bowl”.AdvertisementThe MAGA movement acquired critical momentum by rejecting the idea of “melting pot” multiculturalism and forcefully projecting “tomato soup” nationalism in which there is space only for a White American Christian in American national life. After Kirk’s murder, the pressure from MAGA elements increased so much that even Vice President J D Vance was forced to question the religious identity of his wife, who is a Hindu. “I believe in the Christian gospel, and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way,” Vance told a mourning audience at a Kirk memorial event.most readThis pressure is weighing on all immigrants, and Indians, too, are increasingly becoming a target. There are catcalls asking them to “go back” and public taunts about stealing American jobs. There were two incidents involving Sikh truck drivers in California and Florida that led to the death of several American citizens last year. Those incidents were widely used by MAGA groups to generate anti-immigrant sentiment. An increasing number of social media posts question and vilify the religion of immigrants, branding it as “devil worship”. Both FBI director Kash Patel and the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbot, faced severe criticism from extreme MAGA groups for hosting Diwali celebrations in October last year. Comments like “Reject this false religion’s Diwali nonsense”, “Not the brightest idea to promote foreign gods in the Christian Nation of America”, and “hellish celebration” flooded social media platforms.Earlier, such groups were seen as fringe elements. But interactions with the Indian community during my recent visit indicated that they are becoming a source of daily harassment, especially in red states like Florida and Texas. There is increased scrutiny of immigrants at the airports and in townships by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), leading to forced deportations.Community leaders are worried about growing racism in “Fortress America” and the future of the community. They see the early conclusion of a US-India trade deal as a much-needed reprieve that will send a message to the MAGA base against its anti-Indian immigrant rhetoric. The concern is not fictional or exaggerated. It is real.The writer, president, India Foundation, is with the BJP