US Deportation Ad Featuring ‘Mr Singh’ Draws Accusations of Racist Profiling

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has come under fire over a deportation-themed social media advertisement featuring a brown-bearded man identified as “Mr Singh”, with advocacy groups accusing the agency of racist and anti-American profiling.

The controversy erupted over an official DHS post that depicted “Mr Singh” as a villain in a Transformers-style graphic and told him to “get off our roads”, while warning him to “self-deport or find out”.

Indian-American Congressman Condemns DHS Post

Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois, condemned the post and described it as racist. He warned that using a widely recognised Sikh surname in government messaging could fuel xenophobia and cast suspicion on an entire community.

“Our government should never use its power to demonize people or suggest that their faith, heritage, or identity means they do not belong here,” Krishnamoorthi said.

‘Singh’ Reference Sparks Sikh Community Concerns

Krishnamoorthi noted that the surname Singh is shared by more than 160,000 people in the United States and is one of the most recognisable Sikh surnames. It is also widely used in India and among Indian-origin communities globally.

He said targeting a name associated with thousands of Sikh families risks turning an immigration enforcement message into one that stigmatises an entire community.

DHS Deportation Messaging Draws Criticism

The controversy comes as the Trump administration has intensified immigration enforcement and increasingly used official government social media accounts to promote its deportation policies.

Krishnamoorthi, who was born in New Delhi and represents an Illinois district with a substantial immigrant population, has frequently spoken on issues affecting Indian-American, Sikh and other South Asian communities.