'Non-sensical drivel': ‘Mr Singh’ poster on illegal drivers removed by US agency WITHOUT APOLOGY after online backlash over alleged racism

The US has removed an online poster asking illegal aliens to self-deport, which used an AI-generated image of what appeared to be an Indian man and was captioned, ‘Get off our roads, Mr Singh’. But the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did so without any apology, despite the severe backlash, with one official calling the reaction ‘nonsensical drivel’ and ‘faux outrage’. DHS tried to explain the poster by saying it depicted Harjinder Singh, a Sikh truck driver who caused a fatal accident. Here is what happened.

'Get off our roads, Mr Singh:' The offending poster

Apparently inspired by the Transformers movie series, the poster showed what appeared to be the Autobot Optimus Prime (representing DHS) confronting an Indian-looking, brown-skinned, bearded man wearing a bandana-like head covering. The poster captions said: “America for Americans. Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive, Mr. Singh,” and “Self-deport or find out.” The main title of the poster was “Transformers: America for Americans.”

It was part of the self-deportation and Customs and Border Protection campaign targeting unlicensed or unauthorised commercial drivers on US roads.

The reaction to the poster and political backlash

The Sikh Coalition said, “Twenty-five years after 9/11, Sikhs are still being targeted and profiled for how we look,” while noting that millions of Sikhs and Hindus share the surname Singh. The Hindu American Foundation called the poster “racist, un-American, anti-Indian profiling/trolling”.

The poster sparked a political firestorm, with California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office calling it “disgusting racist propaganda targeting the Sikh community”.

Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi said the Trump administration should never demonise people based on faith, heritage or identity, while noting that more than 160,000 people in the US share the surname Singh. Other Democrats, including Josh Harder, Pramila Jayapal, Adam Smith and Debbie Dingell, condemned the poster as discriminatory. Harder said whoever allowed it should be fired.

Poster removed, but DHS digs in its heels on illegal alien drivers

The poster was removed from the DHS official X account by Thursday night (Sep 10), nearly a day after it first appeared. DHS offered no explanation for the takedown. Hasbro, Inc., the company behind the Transformers franchise, meanwhile said the Optimus Prime imagery was used without permission and does not represent the Transformers brand.

In different statements to the media, DHS officials insisted the poster was about Harjinder Singh, the Indian national facing vehicular homicide and manslaughter charges after pleading not guilty in connection with a fatal Florida Turnpike crash that killed three people. It said: “Harjinder Singh is an illegal alien from India who should never have been in our country.”

In a separate statement, a DHS spokesperson called CBS channel's coverage of the backlash “nonsensical drivel” and described the overall response to the post as “faux outrage”.

“Freedom from illegal alien crime is the right of all Americans,” it said.

In a social media post directed at California Governor Newsom, DHS said, “Hey Gavin, YOU gave him his CDL [commercial driver's license] and then he killed three people with his tractor-trailer.” It made the post alongside a video related to the Florida crash involving Harjinder Singh.

Recent Punjabi and Indian truck driver accident cases

Harjinder Singh made a U-turn with a tractor-trailer that blocked lanes, leading to a minivan crashing into his vehicle and killing three people on August 12, 2025, in Florida. His case gained wide attention after it emerged that Singh had entered the US illegally via Mexico in 2018. He had California and Washington CDLs. He failed an English-proficiency test and road-sign tests during post-crash investigations.

In October 2025, Jashanpreet Singh hit into traffic in California, killing three people. He had entered the US illegally in 2022. He was sentenced to four years and eight months in jail.

Another undocumented Indian national, Rajinder Kumar, blocked lanes while driving a truck, which led to the deaths of a newlywed couple in October 2025. Several other cases involving Indian or Indian-origin drivers have been linked to fatal crashes since mid-2025. This has led to scrutiny of CDL standards, English proficiency and immigration status in the trucking industry in the US, where Indians, particularly those from Punjab, make up a significant portion of the industry.