Title: Invisible and on the margins: a demographic profile of emerging refugee populations in Northern Colorado

Authors: Christine Marston; Kyle Anne Nelson; Michelle Behr

Addresses: Department of Economics, University of Northern Colorado, Campus Box 101, Greeley, Colorado 80639, USA ' Department of Sociology, University of Northern Colorado, Campus Box 142, Greeley, Colorado 80639, USA ' Birmingham-Southern College, 900 Arkadelphia Road, Birmingham, AL 35254, USA

Abstract: Refugee populations originating from Africa and Asia are continuing to grow as a proportion of the immigrant population in the USA, yet little is known about the integration of these vulnerable populations into secondary settlement areas. We present a case study of Greeley, Colorado, a small city with an agricultural and meatpacking economic-base that has experienced a rapid influx of secondary migrant refugees since 2007. This case study demonstrates the importance of collecting data on emergent newcomers and details the inherent difficulties of gathering accurate and timely information especially in areas of the USA which are not primary resettlement locations. We explore factors that have fostered substantial demographic shifts, document the challenges of collecting data on new refugee populations, and provide an initial demographic snapshot of the local refugee population which may inform efforts in other areas experiencing similar influxes of new refugee populations.

Keywords: refugee demographics; secondary migration; internal migration; new destinations; meatpacking; agriculture; community integration; residential mobility; globalisation; multiculturalism; USA; United States; demographic profile; refugee populations.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMRM.2016.079425

International Journal of Migration and Residential Mobility, 2016 Vol.1 No.3, pp.253 - 268

Received: 24 Jul 2015
Accepted: 29 Dec 2015

Published online: 28 Sep 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article