Influx Of Migrants Just Doubled The Population Of A Small Ohio Town
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The town’s resources have become severely strained by the influx, according to local news.
Another Rust Belt town in southwest Ohio is becoming overwhelmed by overseas migrants who’ve nearly doubled the town’s population of 3,500.
A local Cincinnati television station reported last month that while Springfield copes with tens of thousands of Haitian arrivals, “the small village of Lockland is grappling with its own crisis.”
“Estimates suggested that there are up to 3,000 asylum-seeking immigrants, primarily from Mauritania, residing in the Cincinnati suburb,” Local 12 reported. “Lockland Fire Chief and Village Administrator Doug Wehmeyer said the Mauritanians are living in several apartment buildings, often with as many as 10 people in units designed for four.”
“It’s creating a dangerous situation for the residents and firefighters,” Wehmeyer told the television station. “In most cases, all they have is a mattress, a couch, and some clothes. So, while we’re trying to advance a fire hose line down the hallway, they are pulling mattresses and clothes out [of the units], believing that it’s over [and the building will burn down]. Where we look at that and say, ‘Man, there’s 10 people in a unit.’ They look at that and it’s better than the condition they came from.”
Migrants are reportedly calling 911 whenever they get sick, “putting a strain on ambulance crews and local hospitals,” Local 12 reported, while the “public works crew is spending more time cleaning up trash in areas surrounding the immigrants.”
Wehmeyer was in meetings both times his office was called by The Federalist on Thursday and did not return a phone call Friday.
In another story by Local 12, Lockland Mayor Mark Mason said the new arrivals have stretched emergency resources with calls for non-emergencies.