Many Americans had never heard of Aurora, Colorado or Springfield, Ohio until Donald Trump broadcast false claims about these cities to the nation late in the 2024 presidential campaign. It should be.
First, in September 2024, during a debate with Kamala Harris, the Republican presidential candidate claimed that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were stealing and eating other residents’ pets. A month later, at a rally in Aurora, President Trump declared the city a “war zone” overrun by Venezuelan gangs.
Trump’s false claims spread rapidly and caused confusion in these communities. Reporters rushed in. There was also a bomb threat in Springfield.
These stories feel familiar to me as an anthropologist who has studied the social dynamics of American immigrant destinations. Springfield and Aurora are just the latest small cities to suddenly become flashpoints in America’s ongoing and increasingly heated immigration debate.
Siler City, NC
The small town of Siler City, North Carolina, was used as a backdrop for anti-immigrant political rhetoric a quarter-century ago.
In the late 20th century, jobs in Siler City’s local poultry industry began to attract Latin American immigrants and their families, leading to rapid demographic change. In 1990, the town was 98% white and African American. The 2000 census identified nearly 40 percent of the town’s 6,000 residents as Hispanic or Latino.
This change caused racial tensions, and in 2000 notorious racist politician David Duke headlined an anti-immigrant rally in front of Siler City’s City Hall.
Duke, a former Louisiana congressman and former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, railed against Latino immigrants.
David Duke, speaking at a 1977 press conference, was a racist agitator who built his political career on white supremacy. Bill Peters/Denver Post via Getty Images
“Do you understand that immigration destroys the foundations of this country?” Duke asked. “More diversity ultimately leads to more division and conflict,” he said, warning that white Americans could be “exterminated.”
Mr. Duke also opposed school integration. Thirty-five years after desegregation, this remains a favorite complaint of white supremacists.
Only a few people, some from out of town, showed up to support Duke’s message, holding signs that said things like “The melting pot is boiling.”
In the short term, Duke’s rally exacerbated Siler City’s polarization. It also stoked fear and anxiety among foreign-born residents, some of whom believed the local government supported Duke’s message because the rally was held in front of City Hall.
However, in retrospect, many Siler City residents believe that the David Duke incident was a turning point toward improving ethnic relations in the town.
After Duke’s rally, local politicians spoke out against division and hatred. Within months, residents angered by anti-immigrant rallies organized solidarity events and cultural festivals.
When I visited Siler City in 2008 as a graduate research assistant studying new immigrant destinations, many local residents were proud to point out that white supremacists could not gain a foothold in the city. . They said Duke’s racist rally caused neighbors to stop and think and decide whose side they were on.
Siler City now has an Immigrant Community Advisory Board, and the government is actively working to promote integration and social cohesion among its residents.
Lewiston, Maine
In 2002, a similar story unfolded in Lewiston, a working-class city in Maine, after the mayor wrote an open letter about the city’s growing refugee population.
The previous year, more than 1,000 Somali refugees had settled in the city after being forced from their homes by civil war and drought.
“This large number of new arrivals cannot continue without negative consequences for everyone,” Mayor Laurier Raymond wrote. “Our city is at its limits economically, physically and mentally.”
He called on Somalis to “get the word out that we are overwhelmed.”
Raymond’s letter attracted the attention of organized white supremacist groups, who flocked to Lewiston, a former sawmill hub and home to about 35,000 people. In response, locals formed a special community organization called “Many and One,” and when the hate group Church of the Creator World held a rally in Lewiston on January 11, 2003, participants There were only 36 people. Approximately 4,000 counter-demonstrators turned out to support the Somali community.
The film crew that showed up to document the conflict ended up telling a story in which Lewiston residents sent a message of acceptance and unity.
At a rally on the steps of Lewiston City Hall in 2003, activists denounced the “climate of intolerance” created by Mayor Larry Raymond. Jack Milton/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
While the temporary stress on Lewiston was real, local residents were generally inclusive and welcoming. By 2021, Lewiston had one of the highest per capita populations of Muslims and Somali Americans in the country.
Twenty years later, the arrival of the Somali family became part of Lewiston’s story about Somali history and identity.
Conservative, anti-immigrant messages continue to resonate in town. But many local residents, like author Cynthia Anderson, say they are “moved and inspired” by the resilience of their Somali-American neighbors.
Like most Haitians living in Springfield, the Somalis did not choose to leave the country. Although they were forced to evacuate and many were traumatized, they still built new lives and contributed to their communities.
What can this history teach us now?
Although there are significant differences between Springfield, Aurora, Siler City, and Lewiston, these four locations also have a lot in common.
These are all economically challenged cities, with higher crime rates than the U.S. average, but low housing costs and many entry-level manufacturing jobs. These places are sometimes called “emerging gateway cities” because they are attractive to immigrant families seeking opportunity.
But similar conditions also make these cities attractive to politicians seeking a platform to blame immigrants for their communities’ existing economic, social, and public safety challenges.
Like Siler City and Lewiston, Springfield and Aurora have largely rejected false political claims and negative messages about their immigrant populations.
In Springfield, residents organized rallies and vigils in solidarity with Haitians, and Ohio’s Republican governor defended the city against President Trump’s claims.
“I want to show the president and the people that Aurora is a fairly safe city, not a city infested with Venezuelan gangs,” the Republican mayor of Aurora said before President Trump’s Oct. 11 visit.
The 2024 election has ushered in a period of tension and polarization in these towns. But history suggests that Springfield and Aurora would eventually become home to vibrant, integrated immigrant communities.
Once the vitriol wears off, President Trump’s inflammatory misinformation is likely to become a mere footnote in the larger story of the country’s 21st century transformation.
