Nearly half of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across California have experienced race-based hate in 2024, according to a report recently issued by the national nonprofit organization Stop AAPI Hate.
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The report presents findings from a sample of 515 Californians, drawn from a national survey of 1,598 AAPI adults conducted Jan. 2025. From the sample, 48% of AAPI adults in California experienced a hate act based on their race, ethnicity or nationality.
The survey also found that 72% of AAPI adults who experienced hate did not report them to any formal authority. Adults who did not report believed the incident was not serious enough, that reporting would not make a difference or that it would take too much time and effort.
Nonprofit officials worry the statistic might rise in light of the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across the country.
“This is a growing concern because while we are encouraging people to report and to seek services, the ICE raids and the attack on immigrant communities is making it difficult to just do that,” Stop AAPI Hate Co-founder Cynthia Choi said.
The enhanced and ongoing immigration enforcement is focused on arresting and deporting dangerous felons, according to ICE officials, who say the effort is achieving that goal. But critics say the raids are taking in people without criminal records and promoting anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Though the survey covers 2024, before President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and the ensuing stepped-up immigration enforcement, Choi says the numbers are inextricably linked to the ongoing immigration raids.
“The ICE raids echo our report, which makes it clear that our community is confronting a situation where our institutions, designed to protect and serve our many community members, are the very sources of harm for immigrants,” she said.
Additional key findings from the report:
4 in 10 AAPI adults in California who experienced hate said they needed some form of assistance but did not receive it.
4 in 10 of those who experienced hate said it affected their sense of belonging in their school, workplace, community or in this country.
Most AAPI adults anticipate greater hostility towards immigrant communities (61%), rising racial tensions (56%), and more harmful foreign policies (57%). Many (53%) expect an increase in anti-AAPI hate crimes and hate incidents.
