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 2022, twice the 2021 total.
Refugee arrivals in 2023 are on track to outpace the two previous years, with over 44,000 refugees arriving since January.
In August 2023, the greatest number of refugees admitted by the U.S. came from Syria, Congo, and Afghanistan. Each nation faces a unique set of circumstances that can make their citizens unsafe if they stay in their home country.
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. Syria has seen more than 5 million refugees flee to neighboring nations since 2011 while a longstanding civil war rages, with an additional 6.8 million people forced from their homes and seeking refuge elsewhere in the country. Afghan refugees have been fleeing to neighboring countries for decades, especially to Pakistan and Iran, which combined host over 8 million Afghans.
Stacker referenced data from The Refugee Processing Center to compile statistics on the number of refugees and their countries of origin resettled in Rhode Island in August 2023.
August refugee statistics
Countries where refugees arrived from in August
To Rhode Island:
#1. Syria: 17
#2. Afghanistan: 5
#3. Congo: 3
To the U.S. as a whole:
#1. Syria: 1,429
#2. Congo: 1,085
#3. Afghanistan: 710
#4. Burma: 479
#5. Guatemala: 292
States that accepted the most refugees in August:
#1. California: 562
#2. Texas: 422
#3. New York: 384
#4. Illinois: 283
#5. North Carolina: 274
Read on to see the countries that Rhode Island has accepted the most refugees from since October 2022.
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#1. Syria
Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2022
To Rhode Island: 53
To the U.S. as a whole: 8,238
Top states receiving refugees from Syria
#1. Michigan: 810
#2. New York: 645
#3. Texas: 594
#4. Pennsylvania: 557
#5. California: 541
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#2. Congo
Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2022
To Rhode Island: 39
To the U.S. as a whole: 15,675
Top states receiving refugees from Congo
#1. Texas: 1,551
#2. Kentucky: 1,542
#3. Ohio: 1,173
#4. Arizona: 1,021
#5. New York: 821
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#2. Guatemala
Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2022
To Rhode Island: 39
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,563
Top states receiving refugees from Guatemala
#1. California: 219
#2. Florida: 139
#3. Pennsylvania: 109
#4. North Carolina: 97
#5. New York: 87
Canva
#4. Afghanistan
Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October 2022
To Rhode Island: 9
To the U.S. as a whole: 5,725
Top states receiving refugees from Afghanistan
#1. California: 1,105
#2. Texas: 623
#3. Virginia: 614
#4. New York: 364
#5. Washington: 341
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#4. Iraq
Refugees that arrived from Iraq since October 2022
To Rhode Island: 9
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,061
Top states receiving refugees from Iraq
#1. Michigan: 146
#2. California: 142
#3. Texas: 126
#4. Washington: 65
#5. Illinois: 63
Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock
#6. Sudan
Refugees that arrived from Sudan since October 2022
To Rhode Island: 5
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,505
Top states receiving refugees from Sudan
#1. Ohio: 116
#2. Illinois: 99
#3. Georgia: 96
#4. New York: 85
#5. Nebraska: 79
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#6. Venezuela
Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2022
To Rhode Island: 5
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,129
Top states receiving refugees from Venezuela
#1. Florida: 236
#2. Texas: 131
#3. Pennsylvania: 62
#4. North Carolina: 53
#5. Colorado: 51
Chantal de Bruijne // Shutterstock
#8. Burma
Refugees that arrived from Burma since October 2022
To Rhode Island: 3
To the U.S. as a whole: 5,717
Top states receiving refugees from Burma
#1. Wisconsin: 637
#2. Texas: 598
#3. Indiana: 580
#4. New York: 523
#5. Illinois: 484
Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock
#8. Colombia
Refugees that arrived from Colombia since October 2022
To Rhode Island: 3
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,085
Top states receiving refugees from Colombia
#1. New York: 126
#2. Florida: 119
#3. North Carolina: 108
#4. New Jersey: 85
#5. Pennsylvania: 75
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#10. Central African Republic
Refugees that arrived from Central African Republic since October 2022
To Rhode Island: 1
To the U.S. as a whole: 597
Top states receiving refugees from Central African Republic
#1. Texas: 92
#2. Colorado: 52
#3. Georgia: 40
#4. Arizona: 39
#5. Oregon: 37
