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.

• 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. 

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.