Structural Barriers to Inclusion in a Latino Immigrant New Destination: Exploring the Adaptive Strategies of Social Service Organizations in South Carolina

A growing number of Latino immigrants are settling in immigrant new destinations with restrictive anti-immigrant policies. Poverty and legal status create obstacles to social and economic inclusion in these places. Theoretically, local social service providers are in a structural position to ameliorate these obstacles, but the localized nature of service delivery in the USA requires that immigrants physically travel to access these supports. A growing literature on new destinations has begun to identify barriers to inclusion in immigrant new destinations, but few have explored how local mainstream social service providers are developing strategies to address these concerns. Building on the immigrant new destinations literature and the expansion of immigration enforcement to these areas, this qualitative study examines barriers to services in South Carolina from the perspective of local organizations. In-depth interviews with leaders from 50 direct service providers yield several themes related to structural barriers and organizational strategies to respond to these barriers. Cutting across these themes are limitations imposed by state-level policies and the impact of social exclusion due to marginalized legal status. We discuss the implications of this context for social service providers and the social inclusion of low-income Latino immigrants in South Carolina.