How will you save small midwestern towns without mass immigration? | What really happens when a “flood of migrants” gets “dumped” on a small heartland town.

Extract:

>The stories of [other small towns](https://civileats.com/2019/03/22/a-new-american-dream-the-rise-of-immigrants-in-rural-america/) that have [received a bunch of immigrants](https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/how-somali-immigrants-are-breathing-new-life-sleepy-rural-towns-n690226) in recent years all sound the same. At first the newcomers are met with [suspicion and apprehension](https://www.economist.com/united-states/2019/01/05/how-a-small-city-is-responding-to-a-huge-influx-of-somali-americans), and schools struggle to deal with a sudden huge influx of ESL kids. But as time goes on, the small-town residents experience the optimism of the return of local growth, and most of them [warm to the newcomers](https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2018/04/06/one-goal-amy-bass-maine-somali-refugees). The town gains a local [ethnic flavor](https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2011/little-mogadishu-in-the-allamerica-city-somali-entrepreneurship-in-willmar-minnesota), and in general most people are either happy about the change, or at least accepting of it.

>In fact, we have systematic evidence showing that this is the standard pattern. J. Celeste Lay, a political scientist at Tulane, wrote an excellent short book called [*A Midwestern Mosaic*](https://www.amazon.com/Midwestern-Mosaic-Immigration-Political-Socialization/dp/1439907935) in which she examined the differences between two Iowa towns that got a big influx of (mostly Latino) immigrants, and other surrounding similar towns that didn’t get an influx. The book is a little dry, but if you’re really curious about the effect of a “flood” of low-skilled immigrants getting “dumped” on a small heartland town, I encourage you to read it.