Residents in Small Ohio Village Reveal Biggest Concerns After Community Rocked by Illegal Immigrants

Residents in this small village, where the population is just 3,400, have seen their lives upended by an influx of thousands of illegal immigrants that residents say has left strains on services and a significant drop in their quality of life.

Officials have previously told Fox News Digital that there have been around 3,000 mostly Mauritanian illegal immigrants arriving in the small village of 3,400 residents, and it has strained services and made life worse for the people that live there.

Migrants have clustered primarily in a number of apartment blocks in the area. Officials say the influx is hurting the village coffers as working residents are moving out to be replaced by illegal immigrants who are not contributing.

“Our fire and paramedic services have been stressed. Since they moved into these apartment complexes, a lot of the longtime residents have moved out because of multiple fires. It’s been caused by their not understanding how to cook on stoves, and they use high levels of grease in their cooking, which have caused multiple fires,” Mayor Mark Mason Sr. said in an interview this month.

{snip}

Residents have echoed those concerns. One woman, Kelly, who lives on the top floor of one of the apartment buildings, says she is one of a few remaining Americans in the building, with the rest being illegal immigrants.

She says the block has now become known as “the African village” due to the influx, where she says there are now about 85% illegal immigrants.

“With the illegals hanging out in the apartment, at first they were hanging out 50 a day out in the parking lots and walking around. They don’t move out of your way when you’re driving. They don’t seem to care,” she said.

{snip}

“The fires, that’s what scares me. I live on the third floor and pretty much by myself. And I’m afraid I’m going to burn up in a fire one night, because everybody that lives below me is all the illegals. In the two next to me . . . there are illegals, too, and the smoke alarms are going off day and night there.”

“We’re all wanting to get out of here, the Americans,” she said.

Another resident, Aaron, said immigration was the biggest issue facing the village, noting the packed apartments.

“When it comes to the community center down here, they’re overwhelmed by it. And the churches are overwhelmed, the resources are limited.”

Loitering was also an issue mentioned by some residents.

“There’s just so many of them hanging out, on the streets and the sidewalks. I’d be afraid to walk that way, and I’ve been here 37 years,” Dave, who lives on the town’s east side, told Fox. “I wish something could be done to keep them off the sidewalks.”

{snip}