September 2026
Anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies fuel alarming levels of anti-South Asian hate — both online and on the ground.
This brief tracks the prevalence of anti-South Asian hate acts and the impact of anti-immigrant policies and political rhetoric on South Asian communities. It also explores how today’s anti-immigrant climate is shaping people’s lives.
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About the data
This brief draws from online monitoring of anti-South Asian slurs and threats of violence from 2023 to 2025; a nationally representative survey of South Asian adults on experiences of hate in 2025; analysis of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest, detention, and deportation data from 2023 to 2026; and firsthand reports submitted to Stop AAPI Hate’s reporting center in 2025. Together, these sources offer new insights into the experiences and impacts of anti-South Asian hate.
Key Findings
- Anti-South Asian hate rose significantly online: Between January 2023 and December 2025, use of anti-South Asian slurs rose by 109%.
- The majority of online threats of violence were directed at South Asian communities: 71% of all anti-Asian threats of violence between August 2024 and December 2025 were directed at South Asians, making them the most frequently threatened Asian regional group in online spaces associated with targeted violence.
- Half of South Asian adults experienced a race-based hate act: 48% of South Asian adults said they experienced a hate act due to their race, ethnicity, or nationality in 2025.
- Half of South Asian adults have felt the harms of the current anti-immigrant climate: 55% of South Asian adults said they or another Asian American or Pacific Islander (AA/PI) person in their community have been impacted by changing immigration policies or anti-immigrant sentiment.
- Arrests, detentions, and deportations of South Asian citizens have increased substantially under Trump: Among Asian regional groups, South Asians have the highest number of ICE arrests, detentions, and deportations under the second Trump administration. Compared with the previous administration, ICE actions involving South Asian citizens rose sharply, with deportations approximately 14 times higher.
Learn More
State of Anti-AA/PI Hate (2025)
Our third annual survey found that half of AA/PI adults experienced an act of hate during the first year of Trump’s second term.
Keeping Count | Anti-South Asian Hate
Anti-South Asian racism is on the rise and has been for several years, as political figures ramp up anti-South Asian and anti-Muslim rhetoric.
