More recent immigrants to Minnesota do not tend to hail from the same parts of the world as earlier immigrants. Instead, they mainly come from Laos and Thailand (Hmong), Mexico, and eastern Africa (Somalis from Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia). The location these immigrants came from is not all that makes them different from the immigrants from a century before. Many of these immigrants (about 38%) are refugees. A refugee is a person who leaves their country (push factor) because they fear persecution from their home country. Many of Minnesota’s refugees come from East Asia and East Africa. Other push factors include poor jobs or lack of jobs, low quality of life and education, and civil unrest. The things that draw these immigrants to Minnesota include better jobs, higher quality of life, and a strong community of people with a shared culture and experience, and freedom from oppressive governments or civil unrest. The civil unrest in Somalia within the past twenty years or so is a major push-factor for Somali’s leaving their homeland.

Most of these immigrants have moved to areas where they can live and work in a community amongst themselves. They find comfort and support living and working together. If you have people around you that speak your language, share your beliefs, and have similar experiences as you, your life may seem much easier and happier. Most of the Hmong population has settled in the Metro areas of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The Latino population is also strong in the Twin Cities and they also have a very large community in Worthington. Worthington is a community in southern Minnesota known for its meat-packing industry. Like the Latino and Hmong populations, the Somali people also live in the Twin Cities, namely Minneapolis. But many of them have chosen to work in other cities such as Rochester.

These groups of immigrants have shared experiences of discrimination and struggles. They find that living and working together as a community has helped them become stronger and happier. Many immigrants, especially the older ones, find it difficult to adapt to the very different culture, weather, and discrimination. Younger immigrants find it difficult to share two very different cultures and can have struggles with figuring that out. At school they share a culture amongst their peers and teachers, while at home their native culture remains dominant. This can be hard for some young people and their families.