Donald Trump's biggest applause line at rallies in Ohio continues to be a promise: "Don't worry; we're going to build a wall." It's a line that oddly resonates in a state where the experience with immigration is far different from that of much of the rest of the country.

Donald Trump�s biggest applause line at rallies in Ohio continues to be a promise: �Don�t worry; we�re going to build a wall.�

It�s a line that oddly resonates in a state where the experience with immigration is far different from that of much of the rest of the country.

At 4 percent, Ohio has only about a third of the national average of foreign-born residents. The state ranks 12th from the bottom. And of that small group of immigrants, fewer than 1 in 5 lacks the necessary papers.

Oddly, support for Trump in Ohio is strongest in the counties where immigrants are least likely to be found.

Polling of Ohioans for the Your Vote Ohio project shows a disconnect on the issue. Asked in an open-ended question to name the top issues in 2016, immigration doesn�t make the top 10. But when asked to define the reasons they like either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, it�s Trump�s stand on immigration that helps Ohioans define him as a good candidate.

And in a state that is always important to winning the presidential election, Trump has found ways to make immigration critical to dealing with the most important issues on Ohioans� minds, such as the economy and terrorism.

Differing perspectives

Linda Riley grew up near Steubenville and has been to Trump rallies on both sides of the Ohio River � in communities battered by the collapse of the steel and coal industries and major population losses. Illegal immigration and the economy are her biggest issues, and she says they�re intertwined.

�They�re taking jobs away from citizens. And everybody likes to say that they�ll take jobs that other people won�t. Well, how do we know that? Let�s get them out of here, and we�ll see.�

For immigrant families, many of them living in pockets of Franklin, Cuyahoga and Lake counties, the debate about their role in the community is not hypothetical.

Elizabeth Perez is a U.S. military veteran � serving in the military is something that immigrants are as likely to do as native-born Americans � and her husband, Marcos, was deported for lacking proper documents . At a March town hall in Cleveland, she pressed Hillary Clinton on how she would change policy to allow Marcos to return to the U.S. from Mexico.

�Along with my husband, there have been over 2 million people deported since 2010. And almost a quarter of them are parents of U.S.-citizen children,� Perez said.

Who are Ohio�s immigrants?

The Census Bureau reports that more than a third of Ohio�s immigrants came from Asia. Latin America doesn�t even rank second as a region of origin. Again, that shows how Ohio is much different from the nation.

When counting unauthorized immigrants, Latin America moves up to a strong No. 1, but Asia still accounts for about a quarter, according to a new report from the Migration Policy Institute.

Ohio�s immigrants tend to be more educated and have higher incomes than the U.S. immigrant population and the average Ohioan. More than 20 percent of foreign-born residents have a bachelor�s degree, compared with less than 16 percent of native Ohioans. Even among immigrants without documents, 37 percent have at least some college.

Immigrants in Ohio make 18 percent more than Ohio�s American-born.

The economic impact

Regardless of their origin, lots of Ohioans believe that immigrants take jobs and keep wages low for native-born Americans.

Chris Howard is among them. He�s African-American, 52, grew up in East Cleveland and is training for a data-entry job after massive layoffs at the automotive-parts plant where he worked for years.

He maintains that a porous border �gives the immigrants a chance to work for less money and ... people tend to hire them first.�

Census data show that immigrants are indeed less likely to be jobless than native Ohioans � by a little more than a percentage point. And they�re far more likely to have jobs in private businesses than in government.

Studies contradict each other on whether Howard�s fears are valid.

Finding reasons for resentment

Ohio�s foreign-born population is clustered largely around its big cities. Franklin County has the most and has been growing the fastest. But midsized counties such as Summit and Montgomery � home to Akron and Dayton, respectively � have seen increases, too.

Lagging far behind is the region along the Ohio River, which continues to lead Ohio in unemployment. It�s in counties like those that Trump prevailed over Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the Republican primary in March.

Reanne Frank, a demographer at Ohio State University, said the high unemployment creates a familiar pattern.

Immigrants �have very little to do with the issues that these communities are facing. They�re not even there. But some of these communities are going through transformations, and some people are being left behind. And these kinds of moments are when immigration as a scapegoat gains a certain amount of traction.�

schultze@wksu.org

@MLSchultze