The growth of the Latino population in the United States has placed a sharp focus on immigration. Previous research on immigration has taken for granted the existence of immigrant networks. This is a significant oversight given their importance in both conveying social capital and their contribution to the growth of immigrant communities. Using data collected in the summer of 2002, the author looks at the development of an immigrant network in a rural town in northeastern Oklahoma. It is determined that the immigrant network in the community under study includes three distinct yet interconnected subnetworks, a traditional subnetwork, a church subnetwork, and a contract subnetwork. Although each of these secondary networks is made up of different social arrangements, they all provide similar services in a similar manner. The services provided within the greater immigrant network have increased the size, strength, and density of the local immigrant community.
Alvarez, R. (1973). The psycho-historical and socioeconomic development of the Chicano community in the United States. In R. de la Garza, F. Bean, C. Bonjean, R. Romo, & R. Alvarez (Eds.), The Mexican American experience(pp. 31-55). Austin: University of Texas Press.
2.
Baker, P. L.,& Hotek, D. R. (2003). Perhaps a blessing: Skills and contributions of recent Mexican immigrants in the rural Midwest. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 25, 448-468.
3.
Broadway, M. J. (1995). From city to countryside: Recent changes in the structure and location of the meat and fish processing industries. In D. Stull, M. Broadway, & D. Griffith (Eds.), Any way you cut it: Meat processing and small-town America(pp. 17-40). Lawrence: University of Kansas Press.
4.
Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95-S120.
5.
Fernandez, R. M.,& Castilla, E. J. (2001). Howmuch is that social networkworth? Social capital in employee referral networks. In N. Lin, K. Cook,& R. S. B. Hawthorne (Eds.), Social capital: Theory and research(pp. 85-104). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
6.
Fernandez Kelly, P. M. (1996). Social and cultural capital in the urban ghetto: Implications for the economic sociology of immigration. In A. Portes (Ed.), The economic sociology of immigration: Essays on networks, ethnicity, and entrepreneurship(pp. 213-247). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
7.
Gouveia, L., & Stull, D. D. (1995). Dances with cows: Beefpacking's impact on Garden City, Kansas, and Lexington, Nebraska. In D. Stull, M. Broadway, & D. Griffith (Eds.), Any way you cut it: Meat processing and small-town America(pp. 85-108). Lawrence: University of Kansas Press.
8.
Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78, 1360-1380.
9.
Granovetter, M. S. (1974). Getting a job: A study of contacts and careers. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
10.
Grey, M. A. (1995). Pork, poultry, and newcomers in Storm Lake, Iowa. In D. Stull, M. Broadway,& D. Griffith (Eds.), Any way you cut it: Meat processing and small-town America(pp. 109-128). Lawrence: University of Kansas Press.
11.
Griffith, D. (1995a). Hay trabajo: Poultry processing, rural industrialization, and the Latinoization of low-wage labor. InD. Stull, M. Broadway,& D. Griffith (Eds.), Any way you cut it: Meat processing and small-town America(pp. 129-152). Lawrence: University of Kansas Press.
12.
Griffith, D. (1995b). New immigrants in an old industry: Blue crab processing in Pamlico County, North Carolina. In D. Stull, M. Broadway, & D. Griffith (Eds.), Any way you cut it: Meat processing and small-town America(pp. 153-186). Lawrence: University of Kansas Press.
13.
Guzman, B. (2001). The Hispanic population: May 2001. In Census 2000 brief(pp. 1-8). Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
14.
Hernandez-Leon, R., & Zuniga, V. (2000). “Making carpet by the mile”: The emergence of a Mexican immigrant community in an industrial region of the U.S. historic South. Social Science Quarterly, 81, 49-66.
15.
Kandel, W.,& Cromartie, J. (2004). Newpatterns of Hispanic settlement in rural America(Rural Development Research Report Number 99). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture.
16.
Lin, N. (2001). Building a network theory of social capital. In N. Lin, K. Cook,& R. S. B. Hawthorne (Eds.), Social capital: theory and research(pp. 3-30). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
17.
Marger, M. (1996). Race and ethnic relations: American and global perspectives. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
18.
Markides, K. S., & Cole, T. (1984). Change and continuity in Mexican American religious behavior: A three-generations study. Social Science Quarterly, 65, 618-625.
19.
Massey, D. S., Alarcon, R., Durand, J.,& Gonzalez, H. (1987). Return to Aztlan: The social process of internationalmigration from Western Mexico. Berkeley: University of California Press.
20.
Massey, D. S., Arango, J., Hugo, G., Kouaouci, A., Pelegrino, A.,& Taylor, J. E. (1998). Worlds in motion: Understanding international migration at the end of the millennium. New York: Oxford University Press.
21.
Portes, A. (1995). Economic sociology and the sociology of immigration: A conceptual overview. In A. Portes (Ed.), The economic sociology of immigration: Essays on networks, ethnicity, and entrepreneurship(pp. 1-41). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
22.
Portes, A. (1998). Social capital: Its origins and applications in modern society. Annual Reviewof Sociology, 24, 1-24.
23.
Portes, A., & Landolt, P. (1996). Unsolved mysteries: The Toqueville files II. The American Prospect. Retrieved March 22, 2003, from http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section= root&name=View Print&articleId=4943
24.
Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (1996). Immigrant America: A portrait. Berkeley: University of California Press.
25.
Portes, A., & Sensenbrenner, J. (1993). Embeddedness and immigration: Notes on the social determinants of economic action. American Journal of Sociology, 98, 1320-1350.
26.
Rogers, A., & Henning, S. (1999). The international migration pattern of the foreign born and native born populations in the United States: 1975-1980. International Migration Review, 33, 403-429.
27.
Rosenfeld, M. J., & Tienda, M. (1999). Mexican immigration, occupational niches, and labormarket competition: Evidence fromLos Angeles, Chicago, andAtlanta: 1970-1990. In F. Bean & S. Bell-Rose (Eds.), Immigration and opportunity: Race, ethnicity, and employment in the United States(pp. 64-105). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
28.
Saenz, R. (1996). The demography ofMexicans in the Midwest. In R. Rochin (Ed.), Immigration and ethnic communities: A focus on Latinos(pp. 23-29). East Lansing, MI: Julian Samora Research Institute.
29.
Sassen, S. (1995). Immigration and local labor markets. In A. Portes (Ed.), The economic sociology of immigration: Essays on networks, ethnicity, and entrepreneurship(pp. 87-127). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
30.
Schmidley, D. A. (2001). Profile of the foreign born population in the United States: 2000. In Current population reports, P23-206(pp. 1-70). Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
31.
Tilly, C., & Tilly, C. (1994). Capitalist work and labor markets. In N. J. Smelser & R. Swedberg (Eds.), The handbook of economic sociology(pp. 283-312). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
32.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2000). American fact finder. Retrieved August 8, 2004, from http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/Basic%20Facts%20Servlet
33.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2003). Yearbook of immigration statistics, 2002. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
34.
U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service. (2001). Statistical yearbook of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
35.
U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service. (2003). Estimates of the unauthorized immigrant population residing in the United States: 1990 to 2000. Retrieved July 19, 2004, from http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/aboutus/statistics/Ill_report_1211.pdf
36.
U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, and U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs. (1999). Triennial comprehensive report on immigration. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
37.
U.S. Department of State. (2002). Foreign-born population surges in United States. Retrieved August 8, 2004, from http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/diversity/pr061002.htm
38.
Waldinger, R. (1999). Network, bureaucracy, and exclusion: Recruitment and selection in an immigrant metropolis. In F. Bean& S. Bell-Rose (Eds.), Immigration and opportunity: Race, ethnicity, and employment in the United States(pp. 228-259). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
39.
Waters, M. C. (1999). Black identities: West Indian immigrant dreams and American realities. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
40.
Wellman, B., & Wortley, S. (1990). Different strokes for different folks: Community ties and social support. American Journal of Sociology, 96, 558-588.
41.
Zhou, M. (1992). Chinatown: The socioeconomic potential of an urban enclave. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
42.
Zlolniski, C. (2000). Ethnography of informalworkers in a barrio ofMexican immigrants in Silicon Valley. Revista Mexicana de Sociologia, 62, 59-87.
