Where refugees in California are arriving from
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 June 2024, the greatest number of refugees admitted by the U.S. came from Venezuela, 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 California in June 2024. Countries with only one refugee since October 2023 are not included.
June refugee statistics
Countries where refugees arrived from in June
To California:
#1. Afghanistan: 187
#2. Guatemala: 37
#3. Syria: 34
#4. Iraq: 30
#5. Venezuela: 22
#6. Nicaragua: 14
#7. Iran: 13
#8. Congo: 10
#9. El Salvador: 9
#10. Eritrea: 4
#11. Honduras: 3
#12. Armenia: 2
#12. Myanmar: 2
#14. Pakistan: 1
#14. Somalia: 1
To the U.S. as a whole:
#1. Venezuela: 1,163
#2. Afghanistan: 1,093
#3. Congo: 615
#4. Syria: 422
#5. Somalia: 403
States that accepted the most refugees in June:
#1. Texas: 619
#2. California: 370
#3. New York: 355
#4. Florida: 339
#5. Arizona: 243
Read on to see the countries that California has accepted the most refugees from since the start of the fiscal year in October 2023.
#1. Afghanistan
Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October 2023
To California: 2,006
To the U.S. as a whole: 9,974
Top states receiving refugees from Afghanistan
#1. California: 2,006
#2. Texas: 1,012
#3. Virginia: 854
#4. Washington: 605
#5. New York: 462
#2. Syria
Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2023
To California: 479
To the U.S. as a whole: 8,653
Top states receiving refugees from Syria
#1. New York: 857
#2. Michigan: 806
#3. Pennsylvania: 640
#4. Texas: 510
#5. California: 479
#3. Guatemala
Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2023
To California: 425
To the U.S. as a whole: 3,253
Top states receiving refugees from Guatemala
#1. California: 425
#2. Texas: 340
#3. Florida: 204
#4. North Carolina: 199
#5. Georgia: 136
#4. Iraq
Refugees that arrived from Iraq since October 2023
To California: 209
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,300
Top states receiving refugees from Iraq
#1. California: 209
#2. Michigan: 172
#3. Texas: 106
#4. Nebraska: 71
#5. Arizona: 67
#5. Iran
Refugees that arrived from Iran since October 2023
To California: 207
To the U.S. as a whole: 337
Top states receiving refugees from Iran
#1. California: 207
#2. Texas: 22
#3. Washington: 13
#3. Georgia: 13
#5. Illinois: 10
#6. Ukraine
Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since October 2023
To California: 201
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,263
Top states receiving refugees from Ukraine
#1. Washington: 483
#2. California: 201
#3. New York: 75
#4. Florida: 66
#5. Ohio: 54
#7. Armenia
Refugees that arrived from Armenia since October 2023
To California: 192
To the U.S. as a whole: 220
Top states receiving refugees from Armenia
#1. California: 192
#2. Washington: 10
#3. South Carolina: 9
#4. Oregon: 5
#5. Ohio: 4
#8. Nicaragua
Refugees that arrived from Nicaragua since October 2023
To California: 143
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,921
Top states receiving refugees from Nicaragua
#1. Florida: 245
#2. Texas: 147
#3. California: 143
#4. Minnesota: 107
#5. Arizona: 88
#9. El Salvador
Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since October 2023
To California: 114
To the U.S. as a whole: 987
Top states receiving refugees from El Salvador
#1. Texas: 134
#2. California: 114
#3. Maryland: 107
#4. Virginia: 74
#5. North Carolina: 70
#10. Congo
Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2023
To California: 107
To the U.S. as a whole: 15,226
Top states receiving refugees from Congo
#1. Texas: 1,392
#2. Kentucky: 1,286
#3. Arizona: 1,050
#4. New York: 1,002
#5. Ohio: 966
#11. Venezuela
Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2023
To California: 105
To the U.S. as a whole: 5,616
Top states receiving refugees from Venezuela
#1. Florida: 933
#2. Texas: 802
#3. Illinois: 352
#4. Georgia: 253
#5. North Carolina: 204
#12. Moldova
Refugees that arrived from Moldova since October 2023
To California: 97
To the U.S. as a whole: 320
Top states receiving refugees from Moldova
#1. Washington: 100
#2. California: 97
#3. Florida: 24
#4. Oregon: 22
#5. Minnesota: 17
#13. Russia
Refugees that arrived from Russia since October 2023
To California: 62
To the U.S. as a whole: 295
Top states receiving refugees from Russia
#1. Washington: 77
#2. California: 62
#3. Oregon: 24
#4. North Carolina: 22
#5. Minnesota: 20
#14. Belarus
Refugees that arrived from Belarus since October 2023
To California: 50
To the U.S. as a whole: 295
Top states receiving refugees from Belarus
#1. Washington: 70
#2. California: 50
#3. New York: 27
#4. Massachusetts: 26
#5. Pennsylvania: 24
#15. Somalia
Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October 2023
To California: 45
To the U.S. as a whole: 3,185
Top states receiving refugees from Somalia
#1. Minnesota: 959
#2. Ohio: 219
#3. New York: 208
#4. Arizona: 171
#5. Missouri: 150
#16. Honduras
Refugees that arrived from Honduras since October 2023
To California: 42
To the U.S. as a whole: 727
Top states receiving refugees from Honduras
#1. Texas: 118
#2. Florida: 87
#3. New York: 55
#4. California: 42
#4. Georgia: 42
#17. Sudan
Refugees that arrived from Sudan since October 2023
To California: 40
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,544
Top states receiving refugees from Sudan
#1. New York: 134
#2. Ohio: 118
#3. Texas: 112
#4. Missouri: 100
#5. Pennsylvania: 95
#18. Eritrea
Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October 2023
To California: 29
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,613
Top states receiving refugees from Eritrea
#1. Washington: 162
#1. Texas: 162
#3. North Carolina: 104
#4. Iowa: 98
#5. Ohio: 97
#19. Myanmar
Refugees that arrived from Myanmar since October 2023
To California: 27
To the U.S. as a whole: 5,034
Top states receiving refugees from Myanmar
#1. Texas: 581
#2. Illinois: 545
#3. New York: 492
#4. Wisconsin: 369
#5. Georgia: 362
#20. Pakistan
Refugees that arrived from Pakistan since October 2023
To California: 22
To the U.S. as a whole: 704
Top states receiving refugees from Pakistan
#1. Pennsylvania: 101
#2. Texas: 73
#3. Virginia: 62
#4. New York: 49
#5. North Carolina: 46
#21. Kazakhstan
Refugees that arrived from Kazakhstan since October 2023
To California: 19
To the U.S. as a whole: 109
Top states receiving refugees from Kazakhstan
#1. Washington: 41
#2. California: 19
#2. Pennsylvania: 19
#4. Oregon: 10
#5. Massachusetts: 8
#22. Republic of Congo
Refugees that arrived from Republic of Congo since October 2023
To California: 14
To the U.S. as a whole: 338
Top states receiving refugees from Republic of Congo
#1. Missouri: 32
#2. Pennsylvania: 28
#3. New York: 25
#3. Illinois: 25
#5. South Carolina: 24
#23. Colombia
Refugees that arrived from Colombia since October 2023
To California: 11
To the U.S. as a whole: 967
Top states receiving refugees from Colombia
#1. Florida: 124
#2. North Carolina: 91
#3. Texas: 81
#4. New York: 64
#5. Washington: 63
#24. Haiti
Refugees that arrived from Haiti since October 2023
To California: 8
To the U.S. as a whole: 187
Top states receiving refugees from Haiti
#1. Pennsylvania: 29
#2. Florida: 26
#3. Texas: 14
#3. Georgia: 14
#5. Missouri: 12
#24. Uzbekistan
Refugees that arrived from Uzbekistan since October 2023
To California: 8
To the U.S. as a whole: 44
Top states receiving refugees from Uzbekistan
#1. New York: 13
#2. Washington: 12
#3. California: 8
#4. Ohio: 6
#5. Oregon: 5
#26. Cameroon
Refugees that arrived from Cameroon since October 2023
To California: 7
To the U.S. as a whole: 102
Top states receiving refugees from Cameroon
#1. Texas: 13
#1. Pennsylvania: 13
#3. Nevada: 8
#4. Maryland: 7
#4. California: 7
#27. Cambodia
Refugees that arrived from Cambodia since October 2023
To California: 5
To the U.S. as a whole: 53
Top states receiving refugees from Cambodia
#1. Texas: 17
#2. North Carolina: 6
#2. Rhode Island: 6
#4. California: 5
#4. Oregon: 5
#28. Ethiopia
Refugees that arrived from Ethiopia since October 2023
To California: 4
To the U.S. as a whole: 339
Top states receiving refugees from Ethiopia
#1. Minnesota: 98
#2. Texas: 31
#3. Washington: 28
#4. Ohio: 27
#5. Georgia: 25
#29. Algeria
Refugees that arrived from Algeria since October 2023
To California: 3
To the U.S. as a whole: 5
Top states receiving refugees from Algeria
#1. California: 3
#2. Massachusetts: 2
#29. Georgia
Refugees that arrived from Georgia since October 2023
To California: 3
To the U.S. as a whole: 34
Top states receiving refugees from Georgia
#1. Washington: 23
#2. Pennsylvania: 4
#3. California: 3
#4. Indiana: 2
#4. New York: 2
#31. Jamaica
Refugees that arrived from Jamaica since October 2023
To California: 2
To the U.S. as a whole: 10
Top states receiving refugees from Jamaica
#1. California: 2
#1. Colorado: 2
#1. Michigan: 2
#1. North Carolina: 2
#1. Ohio: 2
#31. Senegal
Refugees that arrived from Senegal since October 2023
To California: 2
To the U.S. as a whole: 59
Top states receiving refugees from Senegal
#1. Massachusetts: 15
#2. Georgia: 9
#3. Texas: 8
#4. Ohio: 5
#4. South Carolina: 5
This story features data reporting and writing by Emma Rubin and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 46 states.
