PENNSYLVANIA, USA — The issue of immigration has been prevalent in the economy of Central Pa. for decades due to its reliance on agriculture, but recent national backlash has put the issue in the spotlight in the presidential election.
Viewers of FOX43 have selected these issues as one of their most important in this year’s election as part of FOX43’s Pennsylvania’s Choice series.
Communities such as York Springs in Adams County are reliant on immigrants to fill nearby jobs on farms and orchards in one of the largest apple producing areas in the country.
York Springs mayor Nina Tipler says immigrants make up roughly half of the borough's population, and that they are treated just like everybody else.
"It was just something that's always been as long as we have had orchards and farmlands around us," Tipler said. "The people that come here are literally feeding the world. We have apple orchards and farms, wheat crops, soybeans completely around us, and if people aren't here willing to do those jobs, then the food chain stops."
It comes as communities with higher immigrant populations throughout the country have come under attack. This includes Springfield, Ohio, whose population of Haitian migrants have become the subject of online conspiracy theories which have caused numerous threats to be made against its local schools.
Mayor Tipler says that in York Springs, the immigrant population, old and new, are no different than anybody else who resides in the borough.
"This is their home," Tipler said. "And I hate to say 'they and we,' because we're all we. This is where we all live, and this is where we all should be comfortable. We should all feel that we're entitled to all of the amenities that everybody else has."
Election Day is set for Nov. 5.