Dhaka, Sept. 15 -- 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 m...