By Kenji Takahara
Anti-Asian hate surges amid intensifying anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric from Trump and his allies. Their statements, both on the campaign trail and from the White House, have created a hostile environment. Now, any spotlight on immigrants or their origin countries can trigger a wave of racism.
“We are extremely alarmed by the latest spikes of hate that Asian communities are facing today, both in online spaces and in-person — which Trump is fueling with xenophobic rhetoric and policies,” said Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI (Asian-American and Pacific Islander) Hate and executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance. “Trump and his loyalists have stoked the flames of anti-Asian scapegoating and bigotry for years. And today, they continue to embolden racists to commit acts of hate. Their goal is to build a climate of fear in our communities, but we will not be silenced.”
Stop AAPI Hate surveyed nearly 1,600 Asian-American and Pacific Islander adults from January 7-15, days before Donald Trump’s inauguration. Over 80% of respondents expressed concern about the racial climate.
Their concerns are backed by online research into Anti-Asian slurs, which have spiked during trending public debates about immigrants or foreign countries. For example, the December surge in hate occurred at the height of the debate around H-1B visas. Some Trump supporters opposed the program while others defended it.
Hatred towards Asians has increased online, in daily life, and legislatively. In September, ICE agents detained 475 workers — including more than 300 South Koreans — at a Hyundai-LG electric vehicle battery plant near Savannah. The workers were accused of living and working in the U.S. illegally.
ICE held the South Korean nationals and others for a week before releasing them. None of the South Koreans were ever charged with any crimes.
Tensions between Trump’s Administration and China have increased Asian hatred in legislation. In October, the House Appropriations Committee marked up the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2026. The bill’s accompanying report contained language directing the Department of Justice to effectively re-establish the now-defunct “China Initiative.” This would revive discriminatory profiling of Asian-American scholars.
The China Initiative in any form would be a dangerous mistake. It was built on racial bias, not national security, and fueled the wrongful targeting of Asian American scientists and scholars, often without evidence or due process.
Trump has used Asians as a scapegoat to mask his unpopular economic policies that have left working-class Asian-Americans in squalor while he has favored tax cuts for the rich. All people, Asian and non-Asian, must fight to end normalization of racism under the Trump Administration against legitimizing the hatred of the Trump Administration.
Retrieved from – Anti-Asian Hate on the Rise – Asian-American Friendship Congress
