Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

New Numbers: Hate Crimes Against Latinos Have Jumped in San Diego

A new FBI report says hate crimes based on ethnicity doubled from 2005 to 2006 in San Diego County. Law enforcement officials estimate 70 percent of this year's attacks are aimed at Latinos. KPBS repo

New Numbers: Hate Crimes Against Latinos Have Jumped in San Diego

A new FBI report says hate crimes based on ethnicity doubled from 2005 to 2006 in San Diego County. Law enforcement officials estimate 70 percent of this year's attacks are aimed at Latinos. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has the story.

According to the FBI's report, the number of hate crimes based on ethnicity doubled in San Diego County from six reported crimes in 2005 to 12 in 2006.

Advertisement

Oscar Garcia, the Deputy District Attorney who specializes in hate crime prosecutions, says Latinos are being targeted.

He says the number of Latino victims has jumped again this year, though he doesn't have official statistics.

Garcia : It's not surprising with the current debate nationally as well as locally with regards to immigration. We see it locally with what's going on at the day labor sites. Of course we have to have enforcement of the day labor laws, but those day labor sites seem to attract hate mongers who use that as an excuse and hide behind the flag and claim they're merely trying to express political views.

Garcia says both illegal immigrants and U.S. citizens who are Latino have been victimized in San Diego.

Amy Isackson, KPBS News.