‘Mr Singh, Self-Deport’: US Homeland Security Ad Sparks Anti-Indian Profiling Row
The DHS used AI-generated imagery on X to push its campaign, featuring a brown-bearded man with the tagline: "Get off our roads, you don't know how to drive, Mr. Singh."
By Sakshi
New Delhi, September 10:* The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has sparked controversy by posting an advertisement asking "Mr. Singh" to self-deport as part of its campaign against unlicensed commercial drivers, with advocacy groups calling it racist and anti-American.
The DHS Advertisement Controversy
The DHS used AI-generated imagery on X to push its campaign, featuring a brown-bearded man with the tagline: "Get off our roads, you don't know how to drive, Mr. Singh."
A short clip shown in a related post on X depicts characters negotiating the release of "aliens", a term used by the US administration to refer to foreign citizens.
Truck drivers Harjinder Singh, Rajinder Kumar, Bekzhan Beishekeev, Akhror Bozorov and Jasveer Singh, who were involved in road accidents and other offences, are depicted as Megatron demands their release.
"Be aware of this if you come to this country with malicious intent. We'll protect ourselves. We'll defend Americanism. We will defend our home," the DHS stated in a post on X.
In another post by the DHS, Optimus Prime, the main character in the Transformers series, is shown with a DHS arm patch confronting the brown-bearded man with the message: "Self-deport or find out."
Advocacy organisations such as the Sikh Coalition and the Hindu American Foundation condemned the advertisement's reference to "Mr. Singh".
"'Singhs' are Hindu, they are Sikhs, they are American, and they drive. Racist, un-American, anti-Indian profiling/trolling by @DHSgov should shock our nation's collective conscience," the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) said in a post on X.
"This is a discriminatory post by a federal agency that is far beyond political messaging, and we welcome an investigation," the HAF said, tagging Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon and FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) Director Kash Patel.
In a post on X, the Sikh Coalition said, "25 years after 9/11, Sikhs are still being targeted and profiled for how we look."
"Millions of Sikhs in the United States have the last name Singh, which means lion. We remain fearless in identifying as Sikhs — even when our government portrays us as enemies," the Sikh Coalition said.
The controversy comes amid a DHS campaign to promote its CBP (Customs and Border Protection) Home program, which allows eligible undocumented migrants to register their intention to leave the United States voluntarily.
According to the DHS, those who register for self-deportation are eligible for travel assistance and a departure bonus of USD 2,600.
