Why is Arkansas immigrant population growing so fast?
The state economy is growing fast, particularly northwest Arkansas, the corporate home to Wal-Mart—the world’s largest retailer. Many Wal-Mart suppliers have flocked to the area. It is also home to Tyson’s Chicken, plus many trucking and warehousing facilities. Northwest Arkansas’ industrial concentration has brought many jobs, particularly at the high and low ends of the income scale. Opportunities for the college educated and those with MBAs are plentiful. So are opportunities for low-skilled immigrants in poultry and other food-processing businesses. Employers used to complain about high turnover in those jobs before the recent immigration wave. It’s expensive to train—and then lose—a worker. Immigrants are generally willing to stay on the job longer. Combined with Arkansas’ low cost of living, the jobs have become a big attraction. Recruitment by employers, combined with word-of-mouth immigrant information networks, works like a magnet. These jobs offer considerably higher wages th
