Welcoming Newcomers: Immigration and Rural Revival with Rachel Perić

Rachel Perić, executive director of Welcoming America, is drawing fresh attention in 2025 to how immigration is reshaping rural communities. She urges local leaders to build places where newcomers can put down roots and help small towns grow again.

Her call comes as many rural communities face population loss and a shrinking workforce. Perić points to policies and programs that make it easier for newcomers to live, work, and join community life, arguing that this inclusive approach can boost main streets, schools, and local businesses.

Personal story that informs the work

Perić’s message is rooted in a family story. Her grandmother survived the Holocaust, arrived in the United States, and opened a small business that helped revive a rural main street. That experience informs Perić’s belief that welcoming policies can turn private hopes into public benefits.

It also shapes Welcoming America’s focus on practical steps towns can take to include immigrants and long-time residents in shared plans for the future.

Immigration as economic renewal

At the center of this push is the idea that immigration can serve as a force for economic renewal in rural communities.

• Newcomers often bring strong drive and a willingness to start or save small businesses.
• Empty shopfronts can fill when a new family opens a store, café, or repair shop.
• When local leaders remove barriers to work, language, and licensing, more of these businesses take root, creating jobs and keeping dollars circulating locally.

The goal is simple: make it easier for people to contribute, and the whole town benefits.

Welcoming America ties that economic case to a social one. When newcomers and long-time residents meet, collaborate, and share daily life, communities gain strength.

• Schools, faith groups, libraries, and civic clubs help people learn about each other’s traditions in everyday ways.
• Over time, this mix can make rural communities more resilient, better able to handle change, and more connected across differences.

According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, the push for inclusion has become a steady theme in local policy discussions as communities look for tested approaches that fit their size and budget.

Policy and program landscape

Welcoming America promotes clear steps for communities that want to move from goodwill to action. Three programs stand out:

1. Certified Welcoming Program
   • A formal recognition for cities and counties that prove they have policies and programs that include immigrants.
   • The designation signals to residents, employers, and investors that the community values participation from everyone and has built systems to support it.
2. Welcoming Network
   • A broad network of over 300 nonprofits and local governments working to build inclusive local environments.
   • Members share tools, peer support, and practical playbooks that help small jurisdictions move forward without recreating the wheel.
3. Welcoming Interactive
   • A platform that gathers stories and examples of immigrant inclusion in one place, highlighting practices that towns can adapt.
   • By showing what works elsewhere, the platform helps local teams see concrete steps they can try now.

These efforts connect to on-the-ground needs. Welcoming America backs policies like language access, which means residents can read forms, attend public meetings, and understand emergency alerts.

It also promotes business support, including help for start-ups and guidance for existing firms that want to hire newcomers in line with the law. None of this replaces federal immigration rules. Instead, it helps rural communities work within the national framework to open local doors that towns control: public services, zoning, permits, outreach, and community programs.

Communities seeking official immigration information can find federal resources through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Local leaders often pair those federal rules with inclusion tools developed at the city or county level to create a clearer path for newcomers to live, work, and participate fully.

Local impact and practical steps

Perić and her team stress that the path to inclusion is not abstract. It starts with everyday choices that rural communities can make:

• Set a shared agenda
  • Bring together farmers, shop owners, school leaders, immigrants, and long-time residents to name common goals, such as filling jobs, keeping schools open, and bringing life back to main street.
  • A shared plan helps people see how immigration connects to those goals.
• Cut red tape where possible
  • Streamline local permits for small businesses.
  • Offer clear checklists in plain language so entrepreneurs can launch faster and reopen storefronts sooner.

• Invest in language access
  • Translate key public materials and provide interpreters at public meetings.
  • Make sure emergency notices reach everyone—these steps show respect and build trust.
• Support business growth
  • Create workshops on licensing, taxes, and hiring.
  • Pair new business owners with mentors and help them connect with local supply chains.
• Create spaces to meet
  • Use libraries, schools, and parks for events where families can gather.
  • Everyday contact lowers fear and builds community pride.

The human stakes are clear: for a town with a declining population, a newcomer’s decision to settle, start a business, and enroll children in local schools can be the difference between slow decline and steady recovery.

For a family seeking safety and a chance to work, a welcoming approach can mean a stable home and a future in the United States 🇺🇸. Perić’s personal history underscores this point: the right local conditions can turn a survivor’s story into a community’s renewal.

Systems, not slogans

As 2025 unfolds, Welcoming America continues to highlight rural examples where inclusion supports broad community aims. The organization’s message emphasizes systems over slogans: get the basics right, and people can add their talents to the local economy and civic life.

Leaders who commit to this approach often find that small, consistent steps—like multilingual notices, fair permitting, and open public meetings—make the most difference.

Welcoming America frames its work as help for communities of all sizes, not just big cities. Rural communities, with tight budgets and small staffs, can adapt proven ideas without heavy cost:

• The Certified Welcoming Program gives clear standards.
• The Welcoming Network provides peers and practical tools.
• The Welcoming Interactive shows what success looks like in real places.

This mix of standards, community, and examples helps local officials move from broad goals to specific actions.

Closing note and where to learn more

Rachel Perić’s family story brings a personal note to this effort and reminds policymakers that immigration policy is not only about forms and rules; it is also about the daily life of towns and the people who keep them going.

For rural communities, the decision to open doors can shape whether a main street fades or finds new life. By lowering everyday barriers and inviting newcomers to participate, local leaders can align moral purpose with practical outcomes.

Welcoming America invites communities to explore its programs and connect with peers who are already taking these steps. More information on current initiatives, membership, and resources is available at Welcoming America.

The organization emphasizes that when rural communities plan for inclusion—through language access, business support, and fair local practices—they set the stage for long-term economic growth and stronger social ties.