Samba Diallo, right, wears his daraa, a traditional robe worn in his homeland, Mauritania, after eating a communal meal of lamb and bread on the floor of his apartment with his roommate, Alassane Sow, in Lockland, Ohio, Friday, July 17, 2026. Diallo is part of an unprecedented migration surge, and an Associated Press analysis of exclusive data shows they turned some of the unlikeliest of places, like Lockland, into new American melting pots. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
PHOTO ESSAY: A small town on Cincinnati’s outskirts is among those transformed by immigration surge
An old building in Lockland, Ohio, bustles every Friday afternoon, the sound of hammering old bicycle tires mixing with laughter and conversation that switches from English to the West African language Pular. The shop, called Bikes and Stuff, offers free bikes to anyone willing to help refurbish one, and it has become the center of life for the West African community here.
SEPT. 17, 2026
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