2017/06/23 by Angela S. García, Leah Schmalzbauer · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Migration and Labor Dynamics #Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy #Diaspora, migration, transnational identity
paper · doi:10.1177/0002716217708565
openalex publication_date 2017/06/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/23
Assimilation theory typically conceptualizes native whites in metropolitan areas as the mainstream reference group to which immigrants’ adaptation is compared. Yet the majority of the U.S. population will soon be made up of ethnoracial minorities. The rise of new immigrant destinations has contributed to this demographic change in rural areas, in addition to already-diverse cities. In this article, we argue that assimilation is experienced in reference to the demographic populations within urban and rural destinations as well as the physical geography of these places. We analyze and compare the experiences of rural Mexicans who immigrated to urban Southern California and rural Montana, demonstrating the ways in which documentation status in the United States and the rurality of immigrants’ communities of origin in Mexico shape assimilation in these two destinations.