A Sikh-American news anchor has criticised a controversial social media post by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that used an AI-generated Transformers-style image to promote its immigration messaging.
Alec Nolan, an anchor at Fox 7 Austin, said the post was racist and demeaning to people with the surname Singh, while sharing his own family's history of immigration to the United States.
“My grandpa’s name was Dan Singh. His father, Katha Singh, came to America from India decades ago to seek a better life. He became a raisin farmer in California,” Nolan said.
He added that his grandfather eventually took over the family business while also working as a truck driver. “This post is racist and demeaning to anyone with the last name Singh,” Nolan said.
DHS Post Sparks Controversy
The controversy erupted after the official DHS account on X posted an AI-generated image on September 9, styled as a movie poster for the Transformers franchise. The graphic was titled “Transformers: Age of Deportations” and showed a large Transformer facing a brown, bearded South Asian man wearing a head covering. The image also carried the message, “Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive Mr. Singh,” alongside a call for people to “self-deport.”
Sikh Coalition Criticises Social Media Post
The post drew criticism from civil rights organisations, including the Sikh Coalition, which accused the administration of promoting stereotypes about Sikh and South Asian Americans working in the commercial trucking industry.
Critics argued that the imagery and messaging reinforced a stereotype that Singh-named or South Asian truck drivers are unsafe on American roads. The controversy also comes amid broader criticism of the Trump administration's use of AI-generated imagery, pop-culture references and aggressive social media campaigns to promote its immigration policies.
