The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
During the past five decades, the U.S. has resettled over 3 million refugees, making it one of the leading countries for finding new homes for people fleeing violence, persecution, and war.
In 2021, then-President Donald Trump lowered the annual cap of refugees that could be admitted into the country to 15,000. Even as the Biden administration has raised the ceiling to 125,000, the annual number of refugees arriving in the U.S. didn't immediately bounce back to pre-Trump administration levels. The numbers are increasing though, with over 25,000 refugees arriving in the U.S. in the 2022 fiscal year, twice the 2021 total.
Refugee arrivals during the 2023 fiscal year dramatically outpaced the prior two years, reaching over 60,000 from October 2022 to September 2023.
In August 2024, the greatest number of refugees admitted by the U.S. came from Venezeula, Afghanistan, and Congo. Each nation faces a unique set of circumstances that can make their citizens unsafe if they stay in their home country.
In Venezuela, over 7.5 million people have left the country due to extreme inflation, violence, food and medicine scarcity, and other factors. Most have resettled in Latin American and Caribbean countries. Afghan refugees have been fleeing to neighboring countries for decades, especially to Pakistan and Iran, which combined host over 8 million Afghans. For the last three decades, Congo, also called the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been struggling with a series of civil wars and internal battles that have left millions of people displaced, both internally and externally, with many people fleeing to neighboring countries.
Stacker referenced data from the Refugee Processing Center to compile statistics on the number of refugees and their countries of origin resettled in Alabama in August 2024. Countries with only one refugee since October 2023 are not included.
August refugee statistics
Countries where refugees arrived from in August
To Alabama:
#1. Venezuela: 38
#2. Afghanistan: 13
#2. Myanmar: 13
#4. Guatemala: 11
#5. Syria: 6
#6. Nicaragua: 2
#7. Somalia: 1
#7. Yemen: 1
To the U.S. as a whole:
#1. Venezuela: 2,310
#2. Congo: 1,503
#3. Afghanistan: 1,460
#4. Syria: 695
#5. Guatemala: 655
States that accepted the most refugees in August:
#1. Texas: 1,213
#2. California: 808
#3. Florida: 527
#4. New York: 514
#5. Washington: 507
Read on to see the countries that Alabama has accepted the most refugees from since the start of the fiscal year in October 2023.
You may also like: Counties with the lowest cost of living in Alabama
Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2023
To Alabama: 131
To the U.S. as a whole: 9,225
Top states receiving refugees from Venezuela
#1. Texas: 1,488
#2. Florida: 1,425
#3. Illinois: 522
#4. New York: 379
#5. Georgia: 362
Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2023
To Alabama: 73
To the U.S. as a whole: 4,320
Top states receiving refugees from Guatemala
#1. California: 631
#2. Texas: 492
#3. Florida: 235
#4. North Carolina: 230
#5. New York: 187
Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October 2023
To Alabama: 44
To the U.S. as a whole: 12,634
Top states receiving refugees from Afghanistan
#1. California: 2,611
#2. Texas: 1,299
#3. Virginia: 1,042
#4. Washington: 777
#5. New York: 582
Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2023
To Alabama: 41
To the U.S. as a whole: 9,689
Top states receiving refugees from Syria
#1. New York: 972
#2. Michigan: 964
#3. Pennsylvania: 808
#4. Texas: 581
#5. California: 552
Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October 2023
To Alabama: 30
To the U.S. as a whole: 3,940
Top states receiving refugees from Somalia
#1. Minnesota: 1,118
#2. New York: 278
#3. Ohio: 261
#4. Missouri: 224
#5. Arizona: 214
You may also like: Counties with the most prewar homes in Alabama
Refugees that arrived from Nicaragua since October 2023
To Alabama: 29
To the U.S. as a whole: 2,776
Top states receiving refugees from Nicaragua
#1. Florida: 331
#2. Texas: 256
#3. California: 225
#4. Minnesota: 124
#5. Arizona: 108
Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2023
To Alabama: 22
To the U.S. as a whole: 17,626
Top states receiving refugees from Congo
#1. Texas: 1,574
#2. Kentucky: 1,505
#3. Ohio: 1,217
#4. Arizona: 1,196
#5. New York: 1,112
Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since October 2023
To Alabama: 18
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,176
Top states receiving refugees from El Salvador
#1. Texas: 169
#2. California: 149
#3. Maryland: 112
#4. Virginia: 80
#5. North Carolina: 79
Refugees that arrived from Myanmar since October 2023
To Alabama: 13
To the U.S. as a whole: 5,891
Top states receiving refugees from Myanmar
#1. Texas: 666
#2. New York: 605
#3. Illinois: 569
#4. Wisconsin: 453
#5. Georgia: 415
Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October 2023
To Alabama: 10
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,908
Top states receiving refugees from Eritrea
#1. Texas: 209
#2. Washington: 204
#3. lowa: 135
#4. North Carolina: 116
#5. Ohio: 113
You may also like: How road conditions in Alabama have deteriorated since 2000
Refugees that arrived from Colombia since October 2023
To Alabama: 9
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,242
Top states receiving refugees from Colombia
#1. Florida: 135
#2. Texas: 104
#3. New York: 95
#4. North Carolina: 93
#5. Washington: 89
Refugees that arrived from Haiti since October 2023
To Alabama: 5
To the U.S. as a whole: 226
Top states receiving refugees from Haiti
#1. Pennsylvania: 37
#2. Florida: 31
#3. Texas: 16
#4. Georgia: 15
#5. Missouri: 12
Refugees that arrived from Yemen since October 2023
To Alabama: 5
To the U.S. as a whole: 124
Top states receiving refugees from Yemen
#1. Michigan: 27
#2. New York: 14
#3. Georgia: 13
#4. Montana: 12
#5. Texas: 11
Refugees that arrived from Honduras since October 2023
To Alabama: 4
To the U.S. as a whole: 825
Top states receiving refugees from Honduras
#1. Texas: 132
#2. Florida: 104
#3. New York: 57
#4. California: 42
#4. Georgia: 42
Refugees that arrived from Rwanda since October 2023
To Alabama: 3
To the U.S. as a whole: 216
Top states receiving refugees from Rwanda
#1. Texas: 49
#2. Arizona: 16
#3. South Carolina: 12
#3. Kentucky: 12
#5. Illinois: 11
This story features data reporting and writing by Emma Rubin and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 48 states.
You may also like: Airports using biometric facial recognition in Alabama
Reader Comments(0)