Hate crimes against Latinos are on the rise according to two new studies by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center; it seems that aggressors are using the immigration debate as an excuse to incite violence:

Hate crimes against Latinos are on the rise, according to a two recent reports. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that the number of hate groups has risen 30 percent since 2000.

Mark Potok, editor of the SPLC’s quarterly report on extremist organizations, told USA Today that immigration “has been critical to the growth of the hate movement.”

ADL’s report, released on April 24, states that white supremacists, skinheads, and other extremist groups are using the immigration debate to incite violence against Latinos, regardless of status, around the country.

The most recent and most publicized hate crime incident against a Latino is the case of David Ritcheson, a Houston teenager who was brutally beaten in Houston after some other teens suspected he had attempted to kiss a white girl.

Spring Democrats, a liberal Houston-area blog (yay!), points the figure at the local press, which seems to be shining the light away from the incident. Indeed, the case is getting less attention than one would expect. The Houston Chronicle has no coverage of the incident on its website, even though it happened fairly recently.

Other media seem to have forgotten about it as well; just do a Google News search on “David Ritcheson” and you’ll get basically nothing. Not so the case with Natalee Holloway. That wasn’t a hate crime, but it is a story that still has major legs a whole year later.

Via / CivilRights.org and Spring Democrats