Harjinder Singh AI image incident — Sep 2025

On September 10, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an AI-generated image on its official X account that sparked widespread condemnation. The post featured a movie-style poster depicting a Sikh man opposite a character resembling Optimus Prime from the Transformers franchise, accompanied by xenophobic text targeting the man by name and faith.

What happened

The DHS post utilized AI-generated imagery to frame a specific individual, Harjinder Singh, as a target of a broader federal deportation campaign. The image depicted a bearded man wearing a bandanna, mirroring the appearance of Singh, an Indian truck driver facing vehicular homicide charges in Florida. The poster included the text “America for Americans” and disparaged Singh’s driving ability based on his background.

Hasbro, the owner of the Transformers franchise, confirmed the image was created and posted without their permission and stated it did not represent their brand. Elected officials and advocacy groups, including the Sikh Coalition, denounced the post as "racist propaganda" designed to stigmatize Sikh Americans. Critics accused the Trump administration of using the imagery to target the Sikh community while promoting a campaign against immigrant commercial drivers. Despite the backlash, a DHS spokesperson dismissed the criticism as "nonsensical drivel" while confirming the agency had deleted the post. The incident occurred as the administration continues to pressure states like California regarding the issuance of commercial driver's licenses to non-native English speakers.