Hundreds of migrants from the West African country Mauritania have been settling in Cincinnati to escape state violence.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection data says more than 8,500 Mauritanians arrived in the U.S. from March to June - up from around 1,000 during the four months prior.
According to the Associated Press, Mauritania was one of the last countries to criminalize slavery. Despite this, the practice persists in parts of the country. Several Mauritanians who spoke with the AP said the state police had targeted them because of their anti-slavery activism.
Many Mauritanians are finding their way to Cincinnati from a route posted on TikTok and WhatsApp that flows from Mauritania to Turkey, then Central or South America to the U.S.
It’s a complicated journey, which includes an immigration loophole in Nicaragua that allows relaxed entry requirements and a low-cost VISA without proof of onward travel. They’re then smuggled illegally from Nicaragua to the U.S. southern border. They seek asylum in the U.S. before settling in Lockland.
“We’re wiped out of food”
John Keuffer, CEO of Interfaith Community Resource Center, said 100 migrants came to their location last Friday.
“We just had 1,000 Africans show up in the community,” Keuffer said. “We don’t know where they’re from. We don’t know how to communicate with them. It created quite an issue for us.”
Keuffer said the migrants have been coming to Valley Interfaith for about a year. He said they’re starting to find their footing with the situation. They can’t speak English and a few speak French.
