US lawmakers call for stronger action against hate crimes targeting South Asian community

Washington, Sep 3 (IANS) A coalition of South Asian American lawmakers and elected officials has called for stronger action against rising hate, harassment and violence targeting the community, as they gathered for a national roundtable led by Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi.

The meeting brought together federal, state and local elected officials to discuss discrimination facing South Asian Americans and ways policymakers can strengthen prevention, reporting and responses to hate crimes.

US Representatives Pramila Jayapal, Ami Bera, Suhas Subramanyam and Shri Thanedar joined Krishnamoorthi at the roundtable, along with state and local elected officials from across the country.

Representatives of Indian American Impact and Stop AAPI Hate also participated.

“Today’s roundtable brought together South Asian leaders from across the country to confront the rise in hate, harassment, and violence our communities are seeing and focus on what we can do about it,” Krishnamoorthi said.

“This is about protecting South Asian Americans, but it is also about making clear that no American should be made to feel they do not belong because of where they were born, how they worship, or what their name sounds like,” he said.

“That is why I have been working to strengthen our response to hate crimes, including through the Hate Crimes Commission Act, so we can better understand what is driving this hate and prevent violence before it happens.”

Participants discussed what South Asian communities have been experiencing, factors driving hate and measures that could improve prevention, reporting and responses, according to Krishnamoorthi’s office.

State and local elected officials taking part came from North Carolina, New Jersey, Virginia, California, Michigan, Texas and Pennsylvania.

Indian American Impact Executive Director Chintan Patel and Stop AAPI Hate co-founder Manju Kulkarni also participated.

The gathering comes amid heightened concern among South Asian American organisations and elected representatives over hate and discrimination directed against people because of their ethnicity, religion or national origin.

Krishnamoorthi, who represents Illinois’ 8th Congressional District, has sought a broader federal examination of the causes of hate crimes and gaps in reporting them.

He reintroduced the Hate Crimes Commission Act in May alongside Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and House co-leads Grace Meng and Nydia Velázquez.

The legislation would establish a bipartisan US Commission on Hate Crimes to study factors contributing to such crimes, including the role of social media and technology, barriers to accurate reporting and approaches to prevention. It would also direct the Government Accountability Office to audit federal hate-crime data collection systems.

Federal data cited when the legislation was reintroduced showed that more than 11,000 single-bias hate-crime incidents involving nearly 14,000 victims were reported to the FBI in 2024. Those incidents targeted Americans on grounds including race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.

–IANS

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