Long Island sees growth among Asian Americans, amid reports of hate

As of May, Asian Americans make up 7.7% of the U.S. population – roughly 25.8 million people, making them the fastest growing racial group in the country, according to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. Having nearly doubled from 2000 to 2023, the Asian American Pacific Islander population continues to contribute significantly to the economic, political and cultural makeup of urban and suburban regions nationwide. 

Home to roughly 2 million AAPI residents, New York boasts the second largest population of Asian Americans in the U.S., with Long Island seeing a 150% increase over the last seven years. Yet despite their growing presence, members of New York’s AAPI community continuously report high levels of race and language-based discrimination. 

According to the latest report from the Asian American Institute for Research and Engagement, in partnership with the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, titled “Asian American Language Accessibility Assessment: Breaking Barriers and Bridging Gaps,” nearly 78% of AAPI adults in Long Island reported experiencing race-based discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes with only 20% of victims reporting incidents. 

“In every focus group, all they kept on bringing up was discrimination,” said Farrah Mozawalla, CEO and founder of Asian American Institute for Research and Engagement, and one of the authors of the study. “Stories of discrimination, how they felt like they were the other, how they felt that they were isolated, uncomfortable, over and over, which I knew was going to happen – but I didn't realize to what extent.”

On Long Island, the AAPI population represents nearly 13% of Nassau and 5% of Suffolk Counties, consisting of a diverse cohort of East Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern communities. With the exponential growth of immigrant groups in Long Island, researchers observed that the region is unequipped to support the needs of AAPI communities. 

Through community stakeholders and nonprofits, AAIRE interviewed respondents from various ethnic backgrounds, educational, income levels and immigration status to assess how a lack of language access barred people from essential services and civic engagement. 

Of the nearly 400 respondents of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Korean and Afghan descent, among others – 75% believed that discrimination increased. An additional 43% of AAPI adults in the New York City area also reported adjusting their daily routines out of fear of threats and attacks.

“Whether it was dealing with people who are doctors, lawyers, business owners or people working at a store,” said Mozawalla. “Stories of discrimination were in every single group.” 

A majority of people who had difficulty communicating in English experienced higher levels of discrimination, with over half of respondents reporting that language barriers directly impacted their ability to vote and access essential services for their families. 

Unsurprisingly, a majority of respondents expressed a higher likelihood of supporting candidates who provided campaign materials in their native languages – a strategy which has proven to work, as seen by high levels of AAPI voter turnout in special elections across Nassau County. 

“I do think having boots on the ground that are representative of these communities, having people knock on the doors from these communities, speaking their languages does make a difference,” said Mozawalla. Multilingual outreach efforts can also help dispel fears among immigrants who may have fled authoritarian regimes, many of whom are unlikely to engage civically due to government mistrust. 

“Part of our policy suggestions were to have educational sessions or explanatory videos about registering to vote at different levels of government,” said Claudia Cheng, another author of the study and a researcher at AAIRE. “It's important to educate them and make sure that they have the opportunity to have their voices heard.” 

Lack of language access can also discourage Asian Americans from utilizing social services, which can be compounded by cultural factors such as “saving face,” which can make people especially resistant to receiving government aid. 

“In Nassau County alone, the Department of Social Services has 1,400 people walking in daily. Out of those 1,400 maybe four or five of them – you can’t even put a percentage on them, it's so low, are from the Asian community,” said Mozawalla. “They rather starve or not ask for services, or ask their family and friends or their local religious institutions for those services.” 

With the majority of communities relying on ethnic media outlets like newspapers, TV channels, WhatsApp and Wechat groups – AAIRE researchers stress that multilingual and culturally competent government resources can help bridge gaps in civic engagement and combat discrimination. Additional policy recommendations include incident reporting mechanisms in addition to legislation codifying certain acts of discrimination as hate crimes.

“We had done a survey in 2022 with Hofstra on anti-Asian hate, [and] 70% of Asians felt that they did not trust the police. One of the reasons was because there were no consequences to the actions,” said Mozawalla.

As it stands, more than half of AAPI adults observed worsening conditions. Over half of Muslim respondents also reported experiencing heightened discrimination based on their religion, with the majority of AAPI business owners reporting that religious-based discrimination affected their businesses.

As diversity, equity and inclusion programs have come under attack by the Trump administration, research institutes like AAIRE have since made subtle changes to their initiatives to not trip detectors. 

“We see it in the professional development training that we do. Before, we used to just say anti-Asian hate and Islamophobia. Now we just talk about language barriers facing these communities,” said Mozawalla. “It is concerning, it's alarming, and it's going to lead to a worse quality of life for our community.”