Hate Crimes Tied to Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric

The Washington Post is giving national exposure to what the ImmigrationProf blog reported long ago:  "an increase in hate crimes committed in recent years against Hispanics and people perceived to be immigrants `correlates closely' to the nation's increasingly contentious debate over immigration. Hate crimes targeting Hispanic Americans rose 40 percent from 2003 to 2007, the most recent year for which FBI statistics are available, from 426 to 595 incidents, marking the fourth consecutive year of increases."

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund issued a report that faulted anti-immigrant rhetoric in the media and mobilization of extremist groups on the Internet. The conference said that some groups advocating for tighter immigration laws have invoked "the dehumanizing, racist stereotypes and bigotry of hate groups."

Hate killings of Latino immigrants in Shenendoah, PA and Patchogue, NY are illustrative of the recent spike in anti-Hispanic hate crimes.

KJ