CINCINNATI: Freedom Center Panel on Mauritanian Deportations

WHAT: The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Mauritanian Network for Human Rights in US, Cincinnati Compass, Ohio Immigrant Alliance, and community partners are hosting a program to educate the entire community about the human rights abuses taking place in Mauritania today, and how U.S. deportation policy is 1) dividing Ohio’s Mauritanian families and 2) sending long-term residents to abuse, torture, and slavery.

WHO: Julie LeMaster, Immigrant & Refugee Law Center (moderator); Houleye Thiam,  President, Mauritanian Network for Human Rights in US; Abdoulaye Sow, Communications Director, Mauritanian Network for Human Rights in US; Amadou Dia, community leader from Cincinnati; and Abdoul Mbow, community leader from Cincinnati.

WHEN/WHERE: 10am on May 11, 2019 at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center’s Harriet Tubman Theater (50 E Freedom Way, Cincinnati, OH 45202). See Facebook event here for more information. 

WHY: Mauritania has the highest rate of hereditary slavery in the world. Black Mauritanians are subjected to this and other human rights abuses, including loss of citizenship, arbitrary arrests, and human trafficking. The country has made international headlines because of these horrific practices, and the Trump Administration recently cut trade preferences to Mauritania. Still, the same Administration has decided to resume deportations of Black Mauritanians to this nation, after decades of being allowed to live in safety in the United States.

Families in Ohio and across the United States are now living in fear and grief as loved ones are being arrested at immigration “check-in” meetings, put in U.S. jail, and sent back to a country where they are not welcome. Many are arrested and torture after arriving in Mauritania.  Ohio is home to the largest population of Mauritanians in the United States. Read more about the situation here. Donate to Black Mauritanians’ legal defense here.