Midwest
Swing state official warns village struggling with financial losses after influx of illegal immigrants
A small village near Cincinnati, Ohio, is struggling with an influx of Mauritanian illegal immigrants, with officials warning that they are facing an economic shortfall as a result and that the quality of life is being affected.
“If you look at 2021, 2022, the United States had seen a huge influx of immigrants from Mauritania. Somehow, a good number of them have landed in Lockland,” Lockland Village Administrator Doug Wehmeyer told Fox News Digital.
A Washington Post analysis in June found that over 15,000 residents from Mauritania came to the U.S. last year, a 2,800% increase over 2022, when just 543 arrived. Lockland, a village in the southwest of Ohio of about 3,500 people, has seen what it says is a large number of arrivals. The Post reported that there were 2,700 who settled in Ohio in 2023, with about half going to nearby Cincinnati.
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Immigrants from Mauritania wait to be processed by U.S. border authorities after spending the night in the desert on December 5, 2023, in Lukeville, Arizona. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Wehmeyer said that at least two of the nearby apartment complexes are over-occupied. Apartments should house four people apiece, and authorities are finding up to 12 people in each unit.
“You have an apartment building that’s . . . say, 80 units at four people per unit. That’s about 320 people. When you double or maybe even triple that population, the building systems aren’t designed to handle that.”
“So when you use the utilities, that’s backing up. We have instances where people are going in to take a shower and feces is running out of the drains, filling the bathtubs as it comes from a floor above. That’s compounded probably by the cooking methods that they use, which is a heavy grease-laden process.”
He also noted that a building designed to have 320 people in it, but that may have significantly more, also comes with the risk of not having enough exits, and he said there have been issues with people getting out of buildings during fires.
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Border Patrol picks up a group of asylum seekers from an aid camp at the U.S.-Mexico border near Sasabe, Arizona, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (Justin Hamel/Getty Images)
He also noted the financial strain it has put on the small community. Illegal immigrants claiming asylum may not work right away, and it can be months before they are qualified for work permits if they claim asylum.
“So, most of the immigrants living in Lockland are unable to work. And if they are unable to work, they’re unable to pay taxes,” he said. “And they have essentially displaced the taxpaying residents of these 200 apartment units and filled them with non-tax-paying residents. We’re losing about $125,000 to 150,000 in revenue because of that.”
He says the village has requested help from congressional offices, and has met with a few, as well as state representatives and the governor’s office. He says that Lockland is looking for financial assistance to recoup the financial losses the village is facing, but believes progress is being made.
“I don’t know how they found our small village. We like it. We think it’s a great place to live, but the quality of life here is definitely being affected by this problem,” he said.
Lockland’s struggles echo those in other towns and cities across the country where there have been a significant influx of migrants. Towns like Springfield, Ohio, and Charleroi, Pennsylvania, have seen a significant increase in the number of migrants from Haiti. Meanwhile, cities like Chicago and New York have been vocal in the strain that influxes of hundreds of thousands of migrants from across the border have had on their cities.
Meanwhile, immigration has become a top issue for voters ahead of the 2024 election, with many polls showing former President Donald Trump with a strong lead over Vice President Kamala Harris on handling the issue.
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A Michigan State student appeared to be brandishing a knife and running toward officers when he was shot in multiple waves of police gunfire, according to body camera video of the deadly confrontation released Friday.
MSU senior Isaiah Kirby, a 21-year-old Maryland native, was killed on April 15, and Friday marked the first time video of the fatal gunfire was shown to the public.
East Lansing police were called to Lake Lansing and Abbot roads on a theft call that “evolved into a stabbing by a suspect, which turned into an officer-involved shooting,” the department has said.
The officers’ video showed them driving to the scene when a man, identified by police as Kirby, came running toward them in the middle of the road. Kirby was brought down by an initial hail of gunfire as he came in their direction, video showed.
Kirby, screaming in agony, was on his knees as officers ordered him to drop a knife, according to video. Police then shot Kirby in two more hails of gunfire, with the first and last shots coming about 17 seconds apart, video showed.
“I want to thank the officers and employees of the East Lansing Police Department for their continued professionalism during this investigation,” said East Lansing Police Chief Jennifer Brown, who narrated the video.
“Furthermore, I want to thank the East Lansing community for their patience and understanding as this investigation proceeds,” she said.
Karyn Kirby, the slain student’s mother, and family attorney Teresa Bingman did not immediately return calls seeking comment early Friday evening.
Kirby’s family was shown heavily redacted footage last week that the slain student’s loved ones said didn’t show why deadly force was necessary.
“Where’s my truth? Where’s my transparency?” Karyn Kirby told supporters earlier this week.
“We have asked from the onset, to see raw, clear, unedited video,” she added. “That’s all I ask. It’s not that hard, right?”
The Michigan State Police are continuing to investigate the use of force by East Lansing officers, officials said.
East Lansing police identified the four officers involved in the shooting: field training officer Beck Martin, who has been on the job for three years; two-year veteran officer Brennan Surman; officer Benjamin Saylor, who has been on the job for one year; and officer Zane Johnson Chasteen, who has been on the job for three months and was paired with Martin.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) – Families and officers gathered outside the state capitol on Friday to remember and honor Minnesota’s fallen law enforcement officers.
Families honor loved ones killed in the line of duty
What we know:
The Peace Officers Memorial Day event began with a 24-hour vigil Thursday night, where officers from around Minnesota stood guard at the memorial.
The day included moments of silence, the playing of Taps and several wreath-laying ceremonies.
“Every once in a while, something tragic happens and somebody dies in the line of duty,” said Chief Brian Hubbard, president of the Minnesota Law Enforcement Memorial Association, which organized the service.
According to organizers, 314 officers have died in the line of duty in Minnesota.
Behind every name is a family, a story and painful memory.
Tina Arendt of Cold Spring was young when her father, Stearns County Senior Sheriff’s Deputy Edwin Arendt, 61, died in the line of duty in November 1987. On Friday, she laid a wreath in his memory.
“It was just a random accident out in the middle of the country, and he didn’t make it home,” she recalled. “Things I remember about him – he loved his job. He loved being out helping people. There wasn’t a day that he wasn’t proud and honored to wear the badge.”
The event was as much about supporting families as it was about honoring the fallen.
“The main heart behind doing this is to make sure that those family members, those survivors left behind, know that we won’t forget about them,” said Hubbard.
The vigil and service at the memorial
Timeline:
The 24-hour silent vigil began Thursday night and ends Friday night. Officers took turns standing guard at the memorial throughout the day and night.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A resident of a home was able to escape serious injury Friday following a house fire in Kansas City, Missouri.
Crews were dispatched around 12:33 p.m. Friday to the 8000 block of Euclid Avenue in Kansas City.
The one-story residence had “heavy smoke and fire” showing when firefighters arrived, per a press release from KCFD.
The fire department brought one person from inside the house to safety, and the individual did not need medical treatment.
City Planning and Dangerous Buildings was requested.
An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.
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