The 2000 U.S. Census of Population reported increased Latino migration into rural areas.1 New York State is not an exception to this trend. Many rural communities are becoming more diverse, and without the influx of minorities, they would be experiencing population decline.2 One source of immigrants increasingly likely to settle in rural areas is agricultural workers. U.S. Labor Department data have indicated that almost 80 percent of all U.S. farmworkers are Mexican born. These workers are found in some of the most remote rural communities, and increasingly, they are settling in those communities. Sometimes they are easily integrated into the communities, but other times their presence creates tensions with longtime residents.
