Town of 3,500 Struggles as 2,700 Migrants Move In

In 2023, Lockland, an Ohio town with a population of 3,500, saw around 2,700 Mauritanian migrants settle in the area. “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 said.

The influx has since led to major overcrowding in apartments. Units designed for four people are housing as many as twelve, creating severe strain on utilities and infrastructure.

The village administrator reported financial losses of $125,000 to $150,000 due to non-tax-paying residents displacing tax-payers.

“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,” Wehmeyer said.

“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.”

“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,” Wehmeyer added. “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.”

Local officials are now seeking financial assistance from congressional leaders and the governor’s office to address the crisis.

“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,” Wehmeyer said.