Wrong turn, DHS: My name is 'Singh' and I’m not a bad truck driver
The Sikh community in the US is pushing back against DHS imagery that unfairly targets individuals named 'Singh' as suspicious. Sikhs play a significant role in the American trucking industry, accounting for an estimated 20% of drivers and a large share of fleet ownership.
Why it matters
It highlights the intersection of national security profiling and the economic contributions of immigrant communities in the US.
TOI correspondent from Washington: The Trump administration’s homeland security image targeting the generic “Mr Singh” has struck a particularly sensitive nerve in the Sikh community, whose members have become a highly visible presence in American trucking, business, and indeed in public life.There are no federal statistics identifying truck drivers by religion, but the North American Punjabi Trucking Association (NAPTA) estimates that Sikhs account for roughly 20% of US truck drivers and about 40% on the West Coast, putting the number of Sikh truckers nationally at about 150,000.The community’s influence extends beyond driving. Many early drivers became owner-operators and eventually fleet owners. NAPTA says its membership includes about 1,400 companies operating more than 9,000 trucks, while industry estimates have put the share of US trucking companies controlled by Punjabi/Sikh operators as high as 20%.
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