‘Get off our roads, Mr Singh’: US poster sparks racism row
Trump administration intensifies immigration crackdown amid backlash over DHS poster
The AI-generated ‘Transformers’ graphic targeting a fictionalized Indian-origin truck driver has drawn accusations of racism and stereotyping.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is facing backlash over an AI-generated, ‘Transformers’-style poster that targets an Indian-origin truck driver referred to as “Mr Singh” as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The graphic, posted by the official DHS account on X on September 9, was styled as a movie poster titled ‘Transformers: Age of Deportations’. It showed a large Transformer with DHS insignia, facing a brown-skinned, bearded man wearing a head covering.
The poster carried the message: “America for Americans. Get off our roads; you don't know how to drive, Mr Singh.” It also urged undocumented immigrants to “self-deport”.
The post further adapted a well-known line associated with the Transformers franchise, replacing references to “this planet” and “humanity” with “this nation” and “Americanism”.
DHS also urged people to report what it described as “illegal aliens on American roads”, providing a hotline for reports.
Backlash over Singh reference
The use of the name Singh and the depiction of a South Asian truck driver drew criticism from Sikh and South Asian Americans, who accused DHS of reinforcing racial stereotypes.
Alec Nolan, a Sikh-American anchor with Fox 7 Austin, described the post as “racist and demeaning” to people with the surname Singh. He also shared his family's history of immigration to the US, including relatives who worked as farmers and truck drivers.
Civil rights advocates have also criticised the imagery, arguing that linking the surname Singh and South Asian identity with allegedly unsafe driving stereotypes unfairly targets a community with a significant presence in the US trucking industry.
The controversy comes as the Trump administration intensifies immigration enforcement and uses social media campaigns to promote deportations and encourage undocumented immigrants to leave the US voluntarily.
The DHS has not, in the reporting available so far, indicated that the poster refers to a specific individual named Singh. Instead, critics say its wording and imagery single out a broader ethnic and religious community.
With inputs from Agencies
