The advertisement sparked massive backlash from Indian-American and Sikh advocacy groups.
The US Department of Homeland Security on Thursday took down an advertisement on self-deportation after it received massive backlash for allegedly targeting the Sikh community. The ad, which asked “Mr Singh” to self-deport, faced criticism from Indian-American groups, as well as, Democratic leaders for its “racist propaganda”.
The AI-generated image on X, which was part of the DHS’ campaign against unlicensed commercial drivers in the US, featured a brown-bearded man. The tagline read: “Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive Mr Singh.”
Indian diaspora welcomes removal
Indian diaspora advocacy groups welcomed the removal of the advertisement. “The DHS has now removed the post we called out yesterday. We welcome its removal. But when a federal agency uses a racialised caricature of an Indian/Sikh man to make a political point, taking the post down is only the first step,” Hindu American Foundation said, as quoted by news agency PTI.
This is disgusting.
Trump’s government is trafficking in racist propaganda targeting the Sikh community. https://t.co/LUX5fOLfMA
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) September 10, 2026
Sharing a screenshot of the Transformers-style advertisement, which has now been pulled down, California governor Gavin Newsom slammed the DHS, saying, “This is disgusting. Trump’s government is trafficking in racist propaganda targeting the Sikh community.”
The DHS responded to the pushback with another post on truck driver Harjinder Singh, who was arrested last year after three people were killed in an accident caused due to an illegal U-turn.
Hey Gavin, YOU gave him his CDL and then he killed three people with his tractor-trailer. https://t.co/zqWfOZG1Hk
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) September 10, 2026
Hitting back at the California governor, the DHS caption said, “Hey Gavin, YOU gave him (Harjinder Singh) his CDL and then he killed three people with his tractor-trailer.”
California senator Adam Schiff called out the Trump administration and termed the DHS advertising campaign “hateful, disgraceful and un-American”.
“The administration and DHS make no effort to hide their obvious bigotry, casting suspicion on millions of Americans based on their background and appearance, in this case, the Sikh community,” he wrote on X.
Sikh, Hindu advocacy groups hit out
Several advocacy groups, including Hindu American Foundation, Sikh Coalition, Hindu Action and Coalition of Hindus of North America, hit out at the “un-American and racist” advertisement.
“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,” Hindu American Foundation (HAF) said in a post on X.
