US Department of Homeland Security Uses AI "Mr. Singh" to Pressure Immigrants into Self-Surrender; Hindu and Sikh Advocacy Groups Jointly Condemn Racial Profiling

A recent immigration enforcement advertisement posted by the US Department of Homeland Security on the X platform features an AI-generated image of a brown-bearded man referred to as "Mr. Singh," with accompanying text demanding that he "get off our roads, you won't be driving." This publicity material issued by a federal agency immediately drew fierce pushback from Hindu and Sikh advocacy organizations, who labeled it a profiling-style communication targeting people on the basis of ethnic and religious appearance.

According to The Hindu newspaper, in the advertisement publicly released by the Department of Homeland Security on the X platform, the brown-bearded man is addressed as "Mr. Singh" and tagged with the words "self-surrender for deportation, or face the consequences." The same wave of publicity also enlisted characters from the Transformers franchise: in one related video clip, the villain "Megatron" negotiates with one of the named truck drivers for the release of "aliens"—the term commonly used by the US administration to refer to foreign nationals. The Department of Homeland Security wrote in the post: "If you approach this country with hostility, know this: we will defend ourselves, we will defend the American spirit, we will defend our homeland." In another post, the heroic character "Optimus Prime," wearing a Department of Homeland Security armband, confronts the brown-bearded man, with the same caption: "self-surrender for deportation, or face the consequences."

The related posts named several truck drivers involved in traffic accidents and other crimes, including Harjinder Singh, Rajinder Kumar, Bekzhan Beishekeev, Akhror Bozorov, and Jasveer Singh.

This publicity push accompanies the CBP Home program that the Department of Homeland Security is actively promoting. The program allows eligible undocumented immigrants to register their intention to voluntarily depart, with registrants receiving a $2,600 departure subsidy and travel assistance.

Pinning "Singh"—a surname common among both Hindus and Sikhs—to an AI-generated image of a brown-bearded man, then having a federal agency personally press the publish button, has triggered a backlash that extends far beyond the boundaries of "political communication."

The Hindu American Foundation wrote on the X platform: "'Singhs' are Hindus, and Sikhs, and Americans, and they too drive trucks. The Department of Homeland Security's racist, anti-American, anti-Indian profiling-style taunt/bait should shake the conscience of our entire community." The organization stated that this is a "discriminatory post, issued by a federal agency, that far exceeds the scope of political communication," and welcomed an investigation into the matter, tagging Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K Dhillon and FBI Director Kash Patel.

The Sikh Coalition, for its part, directed its criticism at a longer historical shadow: "Twenty-five years after 9/11, Sikhs are still being targeted and profiled because of how we look." The organization further noted: "There are millions of Americans with the Sikh surname Singh, which means lion. We continue to boldly present ourselves as Sikhs—even when our own government portrays us as the enemy."