DHS deletes ‘Mr. Singh’ meme after outcry over anti-Sikh stereotyping
Federal agency's deportation-themed post mocking fictional Sikh driver drew condemnation days before the 9/11 anniversary
WASHINGTON (MNTV) — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has deleted a social-media post mocking a fictional “Mr. Singh” and telling him to “self-deport,” after Sikh, Hindu, and civil-rights groups condemned it as racial and religious stereotyping by a federal agency.
The post, published on DHS’s official account on Sept. 9 and removed the next day, used an AI-generated image styled on the Transformers film franchise — a bearded, brown-skinned man in a head covering facing the character Optimus Prime bearing a DHS insignia — with the messages “America for Americans,” “Get off our roads; you don’t know how to drive, Mr. Singh,” and “self-deport or find out.”
“Singh,” a surname widely associated with Sikh men though used across faiths and backgrounds, prompted accusations that the government was smearing an entire community to promote the Trump administration’s deportation drive.
DHS has not explained why it chose the name.
The post referred to a recent fatal crash in which a truck driver, Jashanpreet Singh, was charged with vehicular homicide and manslaughter; he has pleaded not guilty, and DHS says he was in the country unlawfully — a characterization, like the criminal allegations, that has not been tested in court.
Representative Pramila Jayapal noted anti-Sikh hate crimes rose about 25 percent last year, to 177 reported incidents, calling it “unacceptable” to demonize whole communities.
The timing sharpened the criticism, coming days before the 25th anniversary of 9/11 — after which Sikh Americans, frequently misidentified because of their turbans and beards, suffered a wave of hate crimes, including the murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi in Arizona days after the attacks.
Advocates said that when a government institution turns a religiously identifiable figure into a deportation joke, it risks reinforcing the very stereotypes that have long fueled violence against Sikh and Muslim Americans.
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