N Trumpian America, even those foreigners with legal status are finding that the walls are closing in on them.

. As part of regulations linked to an imaginatively titled presidential executive order `Protecting the American People Against Invasion`signed in January, non-citizens in the US will now be required to register and carry proof of registration at all times. Permanent residents those with the coveted Green Card visitors, students and workers, with few exceptions, will be affected by the changes, and even a routine traffic check may result in law enforcers asking foreigners for proof of registration.

Registration has been a legal requirement in the US since 1940; what is different with President Donald Trump`s regulations is that foreigners will now be required to carry their papers at all times, or risk fines, even incarceration. For any foreigner who has travelled to the US, these are disturbing changes; legal visitors could earlier feel at ease in the country, without the fear of being hauled up by law enforcement and asked for their papers. But these are very different times.

Historically, America has had its periods of authoritarianism, especially when descendants of immigrants and people of colour have been targeted in xenophobic fits of rage by the state. The starkest example is of the Nisei, or second-generation JapaneseAmericans, who were rounded up and placed in camps during World War II. However, in the decades since, the US had come a long way, attracting talent and brains from around the world to help power its economy. Those days are over. As for the Maga crowd, all of America`s ills are to be blamed on foreigners, and xenophobic policies are needed to restore the country`s `greatness`. Such moves will ultimately hurt America, as the world`s best minds and most industrious people will now think twice about wanting to live or work in the US.