Resources dwindle for these local asylum seekers, today's top stories | Daily Briefing

Amber Hunt, Cincinnati Enquirer
·2 min read
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Adams Aswel, 35, arrived here from Mauritania about a month ago. He speaks some English and helps with interpretation for other Mauritanians who have come to Cincinnati in recent years.
Adams Aswel, 35, arrived here from Mauritania about a month ago. He speaks some English and helps with interpretation for other Mauritanians who have come to Cincinnati in recent years.

Happy Wednesday. I’m Amber Hunt, an investigative reporter for The Enquirer.

I recently chatted with area nonprofit organizations that are helping provide resources to what we know is a huge influx of Mauritanian immigrants to the Cincinnati area – though we don’t know just how big that influx is.

It’s a strange position to be in. As a reporter, I endeavor to find the “why” behind everything I research, but the fact that a straightforward “why” is elusive here is part of what makes this story fascinating. So we’ll start with the “what” and go from there.

Mauritania is a West African nation battling discrimination and even slavery, despite the awful practice being abolished there in 1981. Ohio, and Cincinnati in particular, has long been home to Mauritanian refugees and asylum seekers, but people who work with the community say the number of newcomers since 2022 is likely in the thousands. That means the population here has doubled in just over a year.

Click or tap here to read more on this topic that we’ll revisit as we learn more.

What else you need to know Wednesday, Jan. 24

🌧️ Weather: High of 53. Mild with periods of rain.

🥣 Inaugural Cincinnati Chili Week coming next month, featuring $5 deals around town.

✈️ Frontier Airlines offering new routes, $19 one-way plane tickets at CVG. What to know.

👽 He comes in peace! An alien is now watching over the streets of Covington.

🏀 What we learned from Cincinnati Bearcats basketball's 1st Big 12 road swing to Kansas.

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Resources dwindle for these local asylum seekers | Daily Briefing