Information Sources of Latin American Immigrants in the Rural Midwest in the Trump Era

Abstract

Since the 1920s, Latin American immigrants to the United States have frequently settled in established communities in border states and large urban areas. Since the 1990s, however, Latin American immigrants, documented and undocumented, have been settling in the rural Midwest. We begin this article by considering Trump-era rhetoric and actions affecting Latin American immigrants and the historical context for that immigration. Next, we present information sources and locations (i.e., information grounds) used by the rural midwestern immigrants we interviewed. Finally, we discuss the roles that libraries have taken across the nation in providing information to immigrants, but we contrast that with the limited role of libraries as information sources for Latin American immigrants.