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Title: New Destination Dreaming: Immigration, Race, and Legal Status in the Rural American South

Citation Type: Book, Whole

Publication Year: 2011

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Abstract: New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles have long been shaped by immigration. These gateway cities have also been the major flashpoints in American debates over immigration policy. Since the 1980s, however, new immigrants have increasingly settled in rural and suburban areas, particularly within the South. Couple this demographic change with the increase in the number of unauthorized immigrants, and the rural South, once perhaps the most culturally and racially settled part of the country, now offers a window into the changing dynamics of immigration and, more generally, the changing face of America. New Destination Dreaming explores how the rural context impacts the immigrant experience, how rapid Hispanic immigration influences southern race relations, and how institutions like schools and law enforcement agencies deal with unauthorized residents. Though the South is assumed an economically depressed region, low-wage food processing jobs are offering Hispanic newcomers the opportunity to carve out a living and join the rural working class, though this is not without problems. Inattention from politicians and black-brown tensions are both salient in contemporary rural southern life, and they require serious attentionfrom whites, blacks, and newcomers alikeif intergroup relations and community trust are to be improved. Ultimately, Marrow presents a cautiously optimistic view of Hispanic newcomers opportunities for upward mobility in the rural South, while underscoring the threat of anti-immigrant sentiment and restrictive policy-making that has gripped the region in recent years. Lack of citizenship and legal status still threatens many Hispanic newcomers opportunities. This book uncovers what more we can do to ensure that Americas newest residents become productive and integrated members of rural southern society rather than a newly excluded underclass.

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Authors: Marrow, Helen B.

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Publisher Location: Stanford, CA

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Migration and Immigration, Race and Ethnicity

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