UC San Diego

Starting in the 1990s, immigrants began to settle throughout the United States, often moving to new destinations far from the traditional receiving communities. This paper is a case study of Clark County, Ohio, which has seen its immigrant population grow rapidly in the past two decades, with many of these newcomers coming from the small town of El Saúz de Abajo in the state of Michoacán. Many in this group express a strong sense of stability in their lives in this new destination and I ask what people mean when they express this sentiment. This paper argues that the sense of stability people express is complex and that it can only be understood relative to their past experiences.