Democrats have hailed a new hate crimes bill as an important step toward supporting the Asian American community amid a recent spike in attacks against Asian individuals. But their decision to kill an amendment to the bill that would have protected Asian American students from discrimination in the college applications process shows that Democrats aren’t that worried about discrimination after all.

The amendment, proposed by Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, would have banned federal funding from going to colleges and universities that discriminate against Asian American applicants during the recruitment and admissions processes. All Republicans voted for the amendment. Democrats shot it down, 49-48.

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