Fresno Council Race: Naindeep Singh’s Past Support For Harmeet Dhillon Under Scrutiny

India-West News Desk

FRESNO, CA – Immigration enforcement has already emerged as a central issue in the Fresno City Council District 1 race. Now, a past decision by candidate Naindeep Singh to support Harmeet Dhillon, President Donald Trump’s top civil rights official at the Justice Department, has become another point of contention between Singh and his November opponent, Rob Fuentes.

It has also shown in sharp relief the fallout when policy and history are superseded by other considerations.

Fuentes is challenging Singh over his role in a 2025 letter urging the U.S. Senate to confirm Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights. The two are competing to succeed Councilwoman Annalisa Perea in the west-central Fresno district.

“Naindeep personally vouched for Harmeet Dhillon, a staunch election denier with a history of restricting civil rights, and he urged the government to put her in charge of enforcing our country’s civil rights laws,” The Fresno Bee reported Fuentes as saying.

Dhillon, a conservative civil rights lawyer and commentator who was a prominent Trump supporter before joining the Justice Department, was backed by Singh as part of a broader coalition of Sikh American advocates.

The 2025 letter described the signatories as Sikh American community leaders representing gurdwaras and civil rights organizations across the country and expressed strong support for Dhillon’s confirmation.

Singh, who is with the Fresno-based Jakara Movement, said his decision to sign the letter was made as part of that coalition. “Ultimately our board of directors sort of decided, so I put my name. I was part of a larger coalition. So yeah, it was out there,” Singh said.

He said he does not support Dhillon now.

Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security was forced to remove an AI-generated poster after widespread criticism of an image depicting a bearded, brown-skinned man wearing a head covering and identifying him as “Mr. Singh.” The poster urged him to get off U.S. roads and “self-deport.” DHS later said the image was intended to depict Indian truck driver Harjinder Singh, who has been charged in connection with a fatal Florida crash. The department nevertheless removed the post following backlash from Sikh and Indian American groups and political leaders.

The controversy has added to scrutiny of how the administration’s immigration campaign portrays Indian and Sikh Americans, particularly truck drivers, at a time when immigration enforcement is also becoming a defining issue in the Fresno contest.

Singh, meanwhile, questioned Fuentes’ record and timing in discussing his work as a federal prosecutor.

“I actually don’t know enough of his,” Singh told the newspaper about his opponent’s position. “I think he published something that seemed a buck late, an hour short, but I think the bigger question is more about integrity, and when do you share your work? What type of work do you do? I think that’s actually the biggest difference.”