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The Alameda County District Attorney’s office has activated a telephone hotline for reporting hate-related crimes.
The number, (510) 208-4824, features messages in Spanish, Farsi, Mandarin, Cantonese and Tagalog in addition to English.
“The DA’s office will treat every individual in this county with the care, respect and dignity that each of us deserves and expects,” District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said in a statement.
“The current aggressive nature of hate speech and conduct has heightened the moral imperative to stand up for what is right. My office will be a leader in the fight against hate-based crimes and hateful rhetoric that targets any person or group of people,” O’Malley said.
The Southern Poverty Law Center documented 701 hateful incidents nationwide in the week following the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president. Immigrants and blacks were the two groups most often targeted.
Following Trump’s campaign promise to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, some people have been targeted with fraudulent activity, O’Malley said.
Some fraudulent provider schemes offer to “fix” immigrants’ legal issues, to “secure” immigration status, to “push through” Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals applications or to “represent” immigrants in court.
Other immigrants have reported receiving official-looking letters threatening deportation. These are fraudulent, O’Malley said.
Such fraudulent activity can be reported to the District Attorney’s consumer protection line at (510) 383-8600.
Allison Levitsky, Bay City News Service
By
Allison Levitsky, Bay City News Service
By