[WASHINGTON, D.C.] — U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today applauded U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland for taking several steps to improve the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) efforts to prevent and mitigate hate crimes and hate incidents after recent spikes in both anti-Asian and anti-Semitic attacks against Americans. Attorney General Garland’s move to improve federal anti-hate efforts comes after Duckworth asked Garland in March to have DOJ prioritize combatting hate crimes and violent acts against the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community and moving forward, fully investigate and prosecute perpetrators of Asian American hate crimes.
“The spike in anti-Asian American hate we’ve seen over the last year is a real—and deadly—national crisis,” said Duckworth. “I’m pleased that Attorney General Garland is taking these important, substantive steps to improve DOJ’s investigations and prosecutions of hate crimes—not just against those in the AANHPI community, but also against our neighbors in the Jewish community and all of our fellow Americans as well. With today’s announcement, the Attorney General is sending a message that his department will use all of its resources to ensure that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are swiftly brought to justice.”
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Today’s announcement by Attorney General Garland, which follows an internal departmental review he launched after the Senator’s March letter, is part of President Biden’s push to implement a variety of programs designed to protect and empower the AAPI community. Some of the steps announced by Garland today include increasing resources to prevent and mitigate hate crimes, facilitating expedited review of hate crimes, designating additional prosecutors as local Civil Rights Coordinators, increasing language access capabilities and creating district alliances against hate.
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