A 28-year-old Hispanic man, Alfredo moved to Kirksville in August 2005. He works at a Mexican restaurant in Kirksville to send money to his family in Puebla, Mexico. Like many Latino immigrants, he speaks Spanish. Alfredo wants to communicate and interact with the people of Kirksville but faces the challenge of a language barrier. “I want to learn English, but it’s hard,” Alfredo said, with the help of a translator. “It would be so nice if I could speak … in English. I don’t understand what [Anglos] are saying.” \

Alfredo is not alone. In the past decade, an increasing number of Latinos have immigrated to the northeast Missouri area, but the focus of this flood of immigrants has been in the Milan, Mo., community. Just more than a decade ago, Premium Standard Farms opened a processing plant in Milan. Valentina Mensa, who runs an organization designed to empower Latinos, said the company recruits Latino workers. The majority of the workers are from Mexico, and many of them move here speaking only Spanish.

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