The Justice Department would review hate crimes against Asians and Pacific Islanders if the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act both chambers of Congress will consider becomes law. The group Stop AAPI Hate found nearly 3,800 instances of hate incidents in the last year.
- Erroll Southers, Director of Homegrown Violent Extremism Studies at USC, said the Justice Department will have to coordinate a whole-of-community engagement to restore some of the civil rights actions that were rolled back in the last administration.
- Southers said the Justice Department can reach out to the faith-based community as well as the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council (AP3CON), which is tracking Asian-American hate crimes due to COVID-19.
- The acknowledgement by the Biden administration that DVE (domestic violent extremists) are a problem was a first step, but a greater education and awareness outreach effort from the federal government is necessary, said Southers.
