Hate crimes targeting Latino and Sikh communities in the United States surged to record levels in 2025, even as overall hate crime figures declined nationally, according to preliminary FBI data reviewed by Axios.
The data marks a significant shift in the landscape of bias-motivated crime. Anti-Latino hate crimes entered the top three most targeted categories for the first time in 34 years of federal hate crime tracking, according to the Axios report.
A diverging trend
The increase in crimes against these two communities stands in contrast to the broader national picture, where total hate crime incidents fell. Analysts who study bias crimes say the pattern reflects how specific communities can become elevated targets during periods of heightened political and social tension around immigration and identity.
Researchers have noted that communities associated with fear-inducing stereotypes tend to see spikes in targeted violence during such periods. The data suggests that both Latino and Sikh communities faced intensified hostility in 2025, regardless of wider trends.
Sikh community also affected
The Sikh community, which has historically faced misidentification-based attacks - often by perpetrators conflating turbans and beards with other ethnic or religious groups - also recorded its highest level of reported hate crimes in the tracked data period, according to Axios.
Advocacy groups representing both communities have long called for expanded federal resources dedicated to tracking and prosecuting bias-motivated crimes, as well as greater public education efforts.
Data limitations
FBI hate crime statistics rely on voluntary reporting from local and state law enforcement agencies, a system that experts have repeatedly identified as producing underestimates of the true scale of bias-motivated incidents. Many jurisdictions do not participate fully, and victims frequently do not report such crimes to police.
The preliminary nature of the 2025 figures means final numbers could differ once all agency reports are consolidated.
The data was first reported by Axios, citing FBI figures analyzed by researcher Brian Levin.
