Small towns in the Midwest have diversified more quickly than almost any part of the United States since the start of an immigration wave at the beginning of this century – and the cultural changes are reportedly affecting the presidential election.
According to a Wall Street Journal analysis of census data, counties in Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota saw among the fastest influxes of nonwhite residents of anywhere in the U.S. between 2000 and 2015.
And among GOP voters in the 2016 primaries, counties that diversified rapidly were more likely to vote for GOP nominee Donald Trump, the Journal's analysis shows.
According to The Journal, in 88 percent of the rapidly diversifying counties, Latino population growth was the main driver, and Trump won 73 percent of those where diversity at least doubled since 2000 – and 80 percent of those where the diversity index rose at least 150 percent.
"You're talking about counties that are predominantly white, but they're seeing a glimmer of change," William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, told The Journal. "It connects with the message of Trump."
In one such community, Arcadia, Wis., the elementary school principal Paul Halverson told the Journal the school has changed from all-white at the turn of this century to 73 percent Hispanic as of this year.
"We were hit like a tsunami," he told The Journal.
In 2006, then-mayor John Kimmel proposed making English the official language for directional signage, requiring an American flag to accompany any foreign flag and capping housing occupancy for rental properties, The Journal reported.
The backlash was so fierce he dropped the idea.
"As you live by each other and your kids become friends, a lot of that goes by the wayside," he said, adding though he plans to vote for Trump, his decision "has nothing to do with his immigration stance," The Journal reported.
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