This presentation will be about despite being newcomers and experiencing various socio-economic disadvantages, Latinx migrants and their families tend to report better indicators of health, less involvement in crime, and higher educational attainment than their native-born peers. These paradoxical benefits are not limited to migrants themselves but also spill over to the US communities where Latinx migrants settle. The current project reevaluates the migrant paradox by adopting a social network perspective to assess whether growing Latinx populations can restructure patterns of social relations in ways that reduce community-level rates of adolescent substance use. Using a sample of adolescent friendship networks from rural, Midwestern communities, I compare the structural dynamics of networks embedded in new Latinx destinations to those in communities without growing migrant populations. Results indicate that the social networks of new Latinx destinations evolve in ways that disincentivize alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis use for adolescents from all racial/ethnic and nativity backgrounds. I argue that when migrants move into non-traditional destinations, they revitalize the social networks of their communities in ways that inspire healthy, pro-social outcomes for all residents.

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