Immigrants are keeping rural America alive
The old cliché is that immigrants come to the United States to do the jobs Americans won't do. In reality, they're often here to do the jobs that Americans aren't around to do — at least in the rural parts of the country.
Last week's 2020 census results showed that the country's urbanization is continuing apace: While cities and metropolitan areas are growing, rural areas are emptying out. In my home state of Kansas, 80 of 105 counties lost population in the last decade; next door, in Nebraska, only 24 of 93 counties added people. This is having obvious political ramifications — 90 percent of the counties nationwide that lost population voted for Donald Trump. "Blue America is driving America's population growth," Slate's Jordan Weissman wrote over the weekend.
But if rural America contains Trump's most fervent backers, it is also the part of the country that might be harmed most by his anti-immigration policies. The census results also show it is immigrants who are keeping the population of many rural regions from collapsing outright — and who end up doing the work that keeps many of us fed. As the Associated Press reports, "population gains in many rural areas were driven by increases in Hispanic and Latino residents, many of whom come as immigrants to work on farms or in meatpacking plants or to start their own businesses."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"In the rural areas, if you didn't have the Latino growth, employers would be struggling even more just to fill those positions," one expert told AP.
If immigrants have kept rural America alive, they haven't always seemed welcome. In 2018, the only polling place in Dodge City, Kan. — a meatpacking town in the western part of the state — was moved outside city limits, in what was seen as an attempt to limit the influence of Latino voters. In 2016, the FBI arrested three men in nearby Garden City for a plot to bomb an apartment complex populated by Somali immigrants. And those meatpacking workers were often treated as expendable during some of the worst waves of the COVID pandemic.
The latest census results, though, suggest the country's rural regions need immigrants to continue to survive and thrive. For that to happen, though, Red America's politics will need to change.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.
-
Magnificent Tudor castles and stately homes to visit this year
The Week Recommends The return of 'Wolf Hall' has sparked an uptick in visits to Britain's Tudor palaces
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
I'm a Celebrity 2024: 'utterly bereft of new ideas'?
Talking Point Coleen Rooney is the star attraction but latest iteration of reality show is a case of 'rinse and repeat'
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
The clown car cabinet
Opinion Even 'Little Marco' towers above his fellow nominees
By Mark Gimein Published
-
The Pentagon faces an uncertain future with Trump
Talking Point The president-elect has nominated conservative commentator Pete Hegseth to lead the Defense Department
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Should Sonia Sotomayor retire from the Supreme Court?
Talking Points Democrats worry about repeating the history of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Stephen Miller is '100% loyal' to Donald Trump
He is also the architect of Trump's mass-deportation plans
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
US election: who the billionaires are backing
The Explainer More have endorsed Kamala Harris than Donald Trump, but among the 'ultra-rich' the split is more even
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
US election: where things stand with one week to go
The Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Donald Trump's plan for mass deportations
The Explainer Immigration is his No. 1 issue
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Donald Trump and the fascism debate
Talking Points Democrats sound the alarm, but Republicans say 'it's always the F-word'
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Would Trump really use the military against Americans?
Talking Points The former president says troops could be used against 'enemy within'
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published