(The Center Square) – More than 1,000 miles from the US-Mexico border, Nebraska is grappling with illegal border crosser crime and local communities have been impacted by a surge of foreign nationals.

Immigration, both legal and illegal, is not new to the rural town of Fremont, with roughly 27,000 residents located roughly 45 minutes from Omaha. It’s home to several thousand Guatemalans who’ve arrived to primarily work in large meat processing plants.