Newsday said Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Justice has started an inquiry into the cases that stretch back to 2000 and were documented by Latino activists.

The Suffolk County Police Department said it welcomed the investigation and stated that crimes against Latino immigrants were no more prevalent in their community than they were in New York City.

"We welcome the DOJ looking into these incidents, many of which had not been reported until recently," said police spokesman Tim Motz.

LatinoJustice called for the federal probe after an Ecuadorian immigrant was killed in an apparent hate crime in November. The organization contended that similar attacks have been under-reported for years.