Last October the Mauritanian Network for Human Rights in the US opened its very own community center — The Mauritanian Community Center in Columbus, Ohio. The center is volunteer-led by Mauritanian and Mauritanian American community members. Since that time we have put together a dynamic program assisting both new arrivals and longstanding Mauritanian community members living in the U.S., many of whom have U.S. citizen family members. In addition to offering a safe place for Mauritanian immigrants to gather and build community, we are offering a multitude of direct services designed to support people so that they can care for themselves and their families, and access protections including asylum. The stakes are high and we have to do everything we can to keep families safe and together and ensure that individuals fleeing horrific human rights violations including forced statelessness, state-sponsored violence, enslavement, and other race and ethnicity-based human rights abuses are protected and not returned to danger.