Originally published in OtherWords.
Since the start of his second presidential term, Donald Trump seems to be inspired by the country of my birth: the United Arab Emirates.
On his first day in office, Trump announced his goal to end the United States’ practice of birthright citizenship. Soon after, his administration began criminalizing immigrants’ right to free speech and deploying plainclothes officers to arrest them.
As a result, foreign students across the U.S. are censoring themselves, and immigrant workers are terrified of calling out labor abuses for fear of deportation. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has begun offering wealthy foreigners the chance to emigrate to the U.S. if they fork over $5 million for a so-called gold card—an alternative to the “green card” reserved for wealthy foreigners.
This is precisely the dynamic that’s played out in the UAE for generations. Not only does the Gulf Arab state deny birthright citizenship to the babies of immigrants born on its soil, but it also has a vast police surveillance system to keep foreign workers in a constant state of insecurity over anything from political protest to labor activism.
Immigrant workers make up nearly 90 percent of the UAE’s population, but there are few options for low-income foreigners to reside legally there beyond employment visas. In contrast, wealthy foreigners can obtain a so-called “golden visa” and enjoy many perks besides.
When I was born in Dubai as a child of Indian immigrants, I was denied Emirati citizenship and grew up hearing warnings from elders and friends to watch my words in case “secret police” overheard conversations deemed dangerous to the monarchy. Even today, I cannot discuss the crackdown on dissent with friends who live in Dubai for fear of electronic government surveillance.
Very little of the UAE’s dark underbelly is visible to the American public beyond the ubiquitous “Fly Emirates” jerseys on soccer players or advertisements featuring U.S. celebrities for tourism in Dubai, the nation’s most populous city and emirate.
Trump is unsurprisingly attracted to this paradise for the ultra-wealthy, where money is speech, labor is suppressed, dissent is criminalized, and a monarch holds all power.
In a gauzy promotional video published by the White House, Trump called the UAE “an amazing country, a rich country,” and addressed its rulers as though they were family friends: “I know you’ll never leave my side.” He added, “We’re going to treat you—as you should be—magnificently.”
Beyond its aspirational value, the UAE is Trump’s personal business partner. Weeks before Trump’s visit to the Gulf monarchy, UAE authorities announced they would pay for a multibillion-dollar private deal using the Trump family cryptocurrency—a move that could make the first family hundreds of millions of dollars richer.
If Trump fulfills his quest to remake the U.S. in the UAE’s image, it’s helpful to consider what we’re in store for. Without the same rights as citizens, members of the UAE’s vast immigrant workforce are often abused and exploited. They’re housed in crowded labor camps and their passports are held by their employers, rendering them captive.
My uncle, an Indian national, lived and worked in such conditions for years before a work-related foot injury left him unable to continue his job. Disabled, he was forced to return to India where his foot required amputation. He was never compensated by his employer, an American firm operating in Dubai.
No one in my family talked openly about the abuse my uncle faced until we were outside the UAE’s borders—for fear of government surveillance and retaliation.
This is the nation in whose image Trump is attempting to reshape the United States. If he succeeds, I can tell you from personal experience, it won’t be pretty.
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