Who is ‘Mr Singh’? Why DHS’s Deleted Deportation Post Sparked a Racism Row in America

The post has disappeared. The question it raised remains: when a government tells “Mr Singh” to get off its roads, who is supposed to feel addressed?

The US Department of Homeland Security removed a Transformers-themed social media graphic on September 10 after criticism that it stereotyped Sikh and Indian-origin people. The image showed a bearded man wearing a head covering facing Optimus Prime, depicted with DHS insignia. Its message included a warning to “self deport or find out” and the line: “Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive Mr. Singh.”

DHS subsequently said the figure represented Harjinder Singh, the Indian truck driver accused in a Florida crash that killed three people in August 2025. According to ANI’s account of reporting by The New York Times, the department dismissed the backlash as “nonsensical drivel” and did not explain why it removed the post.

For Sikh organisations, the controversy extends beyond the deletion. It concerns a shared name, a recognisable appearance and the use of government messaging to invite suspicion of people on America’s roads. The Sikh Coalition’s September 10 statement confirmed the poster had been deleted and called for congressional action against the wider campaign.

What was the DHS ‘Mr Singh’ post?

It was an official government social media graphic linking immigration enforcement with dangerous commercial driving. The confrontation between a DHS-branded fictional hero and a Sikh-looking man supplied the visual; the demand to leave supplied the message.

The graphic was circulated alongside other Transformers-themed material in the department’s deportation campaign. Entertainment Weekly described the images as AI-generated and reported that the posts used Optimus Prime’s likeness with DHS or ICE branding. ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is the immigration enforcement agency within DHS.

The government’s stated concern was road safety and immigration enforcement. The objection was to how those concerns were represented: through a familiar surname and a visual identity associated with a religious community.

Who is Harjinder Singh, and what happened in Florida?

Harjinder Singh is an Indian national accused of making an illegal U-turn with a tractor-trailer on Florida’s Turnpike near Fort Pierce on August 12, 2025. A minivan struck the truck, and three people died. AP reported his not-guilty plea in September 2025.

The crash, therefore, predates the latest social media controversy by more than a year. September 2026 is the date of the poster row.

The supplied ANI report says Singh faces vehicular homicide and manslaughter charges and has pleaded not guilty. DHS describes him as being in the United States unlawfully. That is the agency’s characterisation of his immigration position; the criminal allegations must also remain attributed rather than presented as a conviction.

The three deaths are central to the case. Establishing criminal responsibility, scrutinising the driver’s licence and examining enforcement failures are substantial public-interest questions. They can be pursued without treating other people who share his surname as implicated in the crash.

Why did ‘Mr Singh’ provoke accusations of racism?

The dispute centres on the gap between DHS’s explanation of whom it intended to depict and the broader meaning critics saw in the image.

“Singh” is widely used among Sikhs and is also used by people from other Indian communities. It cannot identify a person’s citizenship, immigration status or driving record. In this graphic, however, it appeared alongside a bearded, head-covered figure and a threat of deportation.

The Sikh Coalition argues that this combination encourages fear and suspicion of Sikh truck drivers. Its objection also covers the accompanying invitation to report drivers: the organisation warns that people could make accusations based on appearance rather than evidence.

That is why identifying the intended subject afterwards does not, by itself, answer the criticism. The agency says it meant one man. Critics are asking what the message communicates to everyone who recognises the name or resembles the figure.

Why does the September 11 anniversary matter?

The controversy erupted as the United States approached the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. For Sikh Americans, that anniversary also recalls the violence directed at people whose turbans and beards were wrongly associated with the attackers.

One of the starkest examples is Balbir Singh Sodhi. On September 15, 2001, the 52-year-old Sikh gas-station owner was shot dead in Mesa, Arizona, while planting flowers outside his business. The Sikh Coalition identifies his killing as one of the earliest post-9/11 hate-crime murders.

This history explains the alarm surrounding imagery that marks a beard, head covering and surname as signs of an unwelcome outsider. The concern is that suspicion can attach to visible identity long before anyone asks about an individual’s conduct.

It also matters how that history is described. Anti-Muslim violence was wrong regardless of the victim’s religion. Sikh Americans’ experience shows how such hatred spread across communities through racial and religious stereotyping.

What did DHS and Gavin Newsom say?

California Governor Gavin Newsom called the post “disgusting” and accused the Trump administration of circulating racist propaganda against the Sikh community, according to the supplied ANI report.

DHS responded by blaming California for granting Singh a commercial driver’s licence, or CDL, and linking that licence to the fatal crash. Its response shifted the argument back to licensing and state responsibility.

Those are related but distinct disputes. One concerns whether a driver was eligible to receive and retain a licence. Another concerns criminal liability for a collision. A third concerns whether a federal agency’s public communications stereotype a community. An answer to one does not settle the others.

What is a CDL, and who issues it?

A commercial driver’s licence is the qualification required for operating specified commercial vehicles. Applicants must meet higher knowledge and driving-skills standards than ordinary motorists, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or FMCSA.

State governments issue CDLs; FMCSA does not. The federal agency sets and administers the national regulatory framework, which helps explain why a crash can trigger a confrontation between Washington and a state government over licensing practices.

Licensing eligibility, immigration status and driving competence are separate questions requiring specific evidence. Neither an Indian name nor Sikh religious appearance establishes that someone lacks a valid licence or poses a road-safety risk.

The Sikh Coalition’s trucking resources explicitly support basic English-language skills and common-sense safety reforms while opposing discriminatory implementation. Its work includes assistance with workplace discrimination, religious accommodations and police or immigration encounters.

That position matters to the debate: objecting to racial profiling does not amount to opposing scrutiny of unsafe driving.

Why has Hasbro objected to Optimus Prime’s use?

Hasbro said the images used its character without permission and did not represent the company or the Transformers brand. In its statement, reported by Entertainment Weekly, the company associated Optimus Prime with compassion, justice and leadership.

The objection adds a separate issue to the controversy: a familiar entertainment character had been placed in government enforcement messaging without the brand owner’s consent. The statement establishes Hasbro’s opposition; it does not establish a court finding of intellectual-property infringement.

Has DHS apologised, and does deleting the post change anything?

The reporting reviewed for this explainer contains no DHS apology. ANI’s account says the department defended its intended subject, dismissed the criticism and offered no immediate reason for deleting the image.

The poster itself is not a new immigration rule or a CDL regulation. Its removal therefore does not announce a change in the underlying enforcement policy. The controversy concerns the department’s choice of message and the consequences critics fear from it.

DHS can investigate immigration violations and promote road safety. The unresolved question is why communicating those objectives required a confrontation with “Mr Singh”. Deleting the graphic removes it from the original feed. It leaves the agency’s explanation—and the community’s objections—open to scrutiny.

With inputs from ANI