'You don’t know how to drive Mr Singh': US DHS advertisement asking to self-deport sparks row - Deccan Herald

**U.S. Homeland Security’s “Self‑Deport” Ad Targets “Mr Singh” and Triggers International Backlash**

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a digital advertisement on March 22 that displayed a computer‑generated portrait of a South‑Asian man labeled “Mr Singh,” alongside the slogan “You don’t know how to drive, Mr Singh – get off our roads.” The short video urged the fictional driver to “self‑deport” and warned that illegal drivers “endanger American families.” Although the spot was posted on DHS’s official social‑media channels, it was withdrawn within hours after a wave of criticism from civil‑rights groups, Indian‑American community organisations, and foreign ministries. The ad’s visual elements were produced with generative‑AI software, a fact DHS later highlighted to explain the campaign as an internal test of emerging technologies rather than a formal policy directive.

Advocacy organisations such as the ACLU, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs condemned the ad as xenophobic and an unlawful intimidation of lawful permanent residents and visa holders. Legal experts noted that the message appears to violate the Department of Justice’s standards for public‑sector communications, which prohibit targeting specific ethnic groups. The Indian diaspora’s outrage was amplified by parallel coverage in Indian media, where headlines like “Get off our roads, Mr Singh” framed the ad as an affront to India’s nationals living in the United States. Congressional members from both parties called for a review of DHS’s use of AI‑generated imagery and demanded assurances that no policy would be communicated through deceptive or discriminatory content.

In response, DHS officials issued a statement saying the advertisement was part of an internal experiment to assess the capabilities of generative‑AI tools for non‑policy‑related messaging. They affirmed that the ad was never intended for public dissemination and that no official immigration enforcement guidance was being issued. The department pledged to conduct a “comprehensive audit” of its digital‑content workflows and to coordinate with the Office of the Inspector General to ensure compliance with federal communication standards. The episode has reignited a broader debate in Washington about the ethical deployment of AI in government outreach and the need for clearer safeguards against inadvertent bias in public communications.