Don't get me wrong, there's definitely racism and xenophobia in rural areas. Pretty much every Confederate Flag that flies reminds me of that fact. But there are non-racist and non-xenophobic people out there who want cultural homogeneity.

And after talking with some people who fit in that category, I personally feel like they have a point. The fact is, rural centers CANNOT serve the needs of an immigrant population, and we probably shouldn't force it upon them.

I've visited some areas like this: 5000 people total for many, many square miles. Entire counties that have fewer people living there than my freaking neighborhood, or a single city-block in New York City.

These places have a single "hospital" with less than 10-rooms, and a single church to serve the religious needs for the community. Don't even think about X-Rays or anything "specialized" unless you're willing to drive 2+ hours away. There are issues supporting a popular Christian religion already, let alone a less common one.

The communities are relatively poor: they can't afford to build higher levels of infrastructure than what they have. Asking those communities to accept people who speak another language, or worship another religion is asking a LOT from that community.

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Obviously, racism and xenophobia are bad. But there's something to be said about the benefits of a homogeneous culture in Rural America. Its financially cheaper to only cater your town towards one kind of culture. Be it language, religion, culture, or other issue.

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Now, something to be said is that Urban centers, such as the area I live in, CAN accept immigrants with open arms. And Urban centers not only thrive from the increased activity, they grow richer and everyone benefits. Part of it is that migrants from Latin America are typically Catholic, and my area has plenty of Catholic + Spanish-only masses around. Spanish is taught in virtually every school as an optional elective, I can (and have) give basic directions like "Where's the Bathroom" or tell important information in Spanish, thanks to my elementary school + high school education. (I stumble a lot, and probably speak worse than a 3-year old, but it gets the job done).

So I can, as well as my community in general, support a mass of Spanish-speaking immigrants in a way that other centers in this country cannot.

I think formalizing these principles can ease a lot of concerns for Americans. If Urban centers worked with ICE to accept illegal immigrants from other parts of the country, then we probably can solve this issue. Ex: Imagine New York City saying "We'll accept 100,000 illegal immigrants from ICE, to prevent them from being deported". This is 1.1% of NYC's total population, so its a large number but otherwise a drop in the bucket.

This sort of thing already happens. San Francisco declares itself to be an "enemy of ICE" and declares itself to be a "sanctuary city". That's fine, the city is allowed to run itself the way it wants. Formalizing the concept would ease over a lot of the Urban vs Rural divide that this country is having. Anyway, San Francisco's leadership is obviously trying to tell immigrants (even illegal ones) to come and live in its city.

https://sfmayor.org/sanctuary-city

The state in which I live in is heavily biased towards "sanctuary city" status. And I think it works for my local culture and local area.