New Delhi: On 9 September, the United States Department of Homeland Security released a poster promoting “self-deportation”, drawing visual inspiration from the Transformers franchise–with a robot facing off against a human. Self-deportation measures have increased amid President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration push in the country.
This time, however, there was an unusual twist: the man depicted as the hero appears to be an AI-generated Indian man.
This has sparked an online row, with several calling it racist and anti-Indian. Since Trump returned to the Oval Office in January 2025, many Indians have faced visa restrictions and cancellations, and several have also been deported.
‘Self-deport or find out’
The poster released across social media platforms has garnered a lot of attention. It currently has more than eight thousand likes on X.
Showing an intense face-off, the poster read: “Self-deport or find out.”
“Americans for Americans, get off our roads; you don’t know how to drive, Mr Singh,” the poster further read, taking a dig at Indian drivers caught operating commercial semi-trucks without legal immigration status or permits. Earlier this year, in June, US authorities arrested and deported 30 such Indian truckers.
Following the poster, the department also released a short video inspired by a scene from the 2007 movie in which immigrants were shown as aliens.
“I want my crew. Har Jinder Singh. Harjinder Singh. Rajinder Kumar. Bekzan Bishikiv. Akalor Bozov. Jasvir Singh. I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars. We are here. We are waiting,” said one of the robots, arguing with a US marine.
The video then showed the following lines: “Aliens don’t belong behind the wheel of American trucks on American roads.”
Several users on X called this “blatant racism”.
“Damn, officially being racist is the lowest you can go as a state, disgusting,” read one X post.
In a follow-up post, the DHS shared photos of immigrants who have committed crimes in the country. Six of the nine named individuals were Indian.
“DHS is getting the worst of the worst off of America’s roads. Far too many American lives have been lost or permanently changed because illegal aliens who have no business being on our roads have been granted CDLs. Help us make America’s roads safe by dialling 866-347-2423 to report CDL fraud,” the post read.
In another post, the department highlighted Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s helplines to report Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) fraud.
“Yet another case of an illegal alien granted a CDL in California that ended with the death of an innocent American. Stopping this from happening again in the future is EXACTLY why the ICE CDL fraud tip line was created. Call 866-347-2423 to report CDL fraud and make America’s streets SAFE,” the post read.
In the past 24 hours, the department has posted several times, urging US citizens to report “road fraudsters”.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)