arcadia, wis.<u+2014>small towns in the midwest have diversified more quickly than almost any part of the u.s. since the start of an immigration wave at the beginning of this century.<u+00a0>the resulting cultural changes appear to be moving the political needle. a wall street journal analysis of census data shows that counties<u+00a0>in a distinct cluster of midwestern states<u+2014>iowa, indiana, wisconsin, illinois and minnesota<u+2014>saw among the fastest influxes of nonwhite residents of anywhere in the u.s. between 2000 and 2015. hundreds of cities long dominated by white residents got a burst of latino newcomers who migrated from central america or uprooted from california and texas. that shift helps explain the emergence of republican presidential nominee donald trump as a political force, and signals that tensions over immigration will likely outlive his candidacy. among gop voters in this year<u+2019>s presidential primaries, counties that diversified rapidly were more likely to vote for the new york businessman, the journal<u+2019>s analysis shows. mr. trump is emphasizing the midwest this week, with a stop in wisconsin scheduled for tuesday. in arcadia, wis., don leibl saw the dairy-farming hamlet transform from nearly all white to more than one-third latino as mexican immigrants streamed in for jobs. it is a main reason,<u+00a0>he said,<u+00a0>he is voting for mr. trump for president. <u+201c>if you<u+2019>d seen the way things have changed in this town , you<u+2019>d say, <u+2018>something needs to be done about it,<u+2019> <u+201d> the 51-year-old computer systems analyst said, referring to immigrants there illegally. in this western wisconsin enclave and other pockets of the rural midwest, mr. trump<u+2019>s pledge to build a wall along the mexican border and prioritize jobs for american<u+00a0>workers has struck a chord with some whites uneasy over rapidly changing demographics. they said they are worried illegal immigrants are crowding schools and unfairly tapping public assistance, problems they believe mr. trump would fix. the journal identified the epicenter of this shift using the diversity index, a tool often used by social scientists and economists. it measures the chance that any two people in a county will have a different race or ethnicity.<u+00a0>in 244 counties, that diversity index at least doubled between 2000 and 2015, and more than half those counties were in the cluster of<u+00a0>five midwestern states. the analysis excludes tiny counties that produce numeric aberrations. traditional immigrant gateways like los angeles, miami and queens, n.y., draw a far greater number of latino and other minority residents, but because they have long been melting pots, their diversity<u+00a0>has barely changed<u+00a0>over the past 15 years. change in diversity from 2000<u+2013>15, based on percentage change in an indexed measure of racial and ethnic diversity trempealeau county, wis. 150% or above 100.0<u+2013> 149.9 50.0<u+2013> 99.9 25.0<u+2013> 49.9
places most unsettled by rapid demographic change are drawn to donald trump - wsj
janet adamy paul overberg