From Yellow Ribbons to Bridging the Community: The Transformation of Local Identity in a Pennsylvania Mexican Settlement Community

Abstract

Since the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), Mexican farmworkers who were formerly seasonal migrants have been settling in greater numbers out of the traditional "gateway" states of California, Texas and Illinois. These "new destination" communities typically do not have a long-term history of Mexican settlement. Like many of these new settlement communities, Kennett Square Pennsylvania, the "Mushroom Capital of the World," has hosted Mexican farmworkers for nearly thirty years. For most of that time, Mexicans living on the periphery of this prosperous town were scarcely noticeable. This has been changing gradually since the early 1990s, as a steady increase of Mexican families have decided to make Kennett Square their permanent home. This population, once nearly invisible, is now one of the defining characteristics of Kennett identity.