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 September 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 Illinois in September 2024. Countries with only one refugee since October 2023 are not included.
September refugee statistics
Countries where refugees arrived from in September
To Illinois:
#1. Myanmar: 192
#2. Congo: 154
#3. Venezuela: 142
#4. Syria: 93
#5. Afghanistan: 41
#6. Iraq: 37
#7. Nicaragua: 16
#8. Guatemala: 13
#9. Somalia: 12
#10. Sudan: 10
#11. Pakistan: 8
#11. Honduras: 8
#13. Colombia: 5
#14. Moldova: 4
#15. Republic of South Sudan: 3
#16. The Gambia: 2
#16. Burundi: 2
#16. Jordan: 2
#19. Palestine: 1
#19. Central African Republic: 1
#19. Eritrea: 1
#19. Uganda: 1
#19. Cuba: 1
To the U.S. as a whole:
#1. Venezuela: 3,653
#2. Congo: 2,296
#3. Afghanistan: 2,068
#4. Syria: 1,585
#5. Myanmar: 1,455
States that accepted the most refugees in September:
#1. Texas: 1,702
#2. California: 1,550
#3. New York: 918
#4. Florida: 768
#5. Illinois: 750
Read on to see the countries that Illinois has accepted the most refugees from since the start of the fiscal year in October 2023.
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1 / 38Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2023
To Illinois: 811
To the U.S. as a whole: 19,922
Top states receiving refugees from Congo
#1. Texas: 1,791
#2. Kentucky: 1,735
#3. Ohio: 1,343
#4. New York: 1,295
#5. Arizona: 1,274
Chantal de Bruijne // Shutterstock
2 / 38Refugees that arrived from Myanmar since October 2023
To Illinois: 761
To the U.S. as a whole: 7,347
Top states receiving refugees from Myanmar
#1. Texas: 882
#2. Illinois: 761
#3. New York: 736
#4. Wisconsin: 570
#5. Georgia: 462
Canva
3 / 38Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2023
To Illinois: 664
To the U.S. as a whole: 12,878
Top states receiving refugees from Venezuela
#1. Texas: 2,039
#2. Florida: 1,883
#3. Illinois: 664
#4. New York: 514
#5. Georgia: 512
hanohiki // Shutterstock
4 / 38Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2023
To Illinois: 433
To the U.S. as a whole: 11,274
Top states receiving refugees from Syria
#1. Michigan: 1,186
#2. New York: 1,112
#3. Pennsylvania: 954
#4. California: 763
#5. Texas: 676
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5 / 38Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October 2023
To Illinois: 370
To the U.S. as a whole: 14,707
Top states receiving refugees from Afghanistan
#1. California: 3,171
#2. Texas: 1,574
#3. Virginia: 1,257
#4. Washington: 889
#5. New York: 658
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6 / 38Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2023
To Illinois: 128
To the U.S. as a whole: 5,017
Top states receiving refugees from Guatemala
#1. California: 794
#2. Texas: 551
#3. Florida: 257
#4. North Carolina: 255
#5. New York: 219
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7 / 38Refugees that arrived from Iraq since October 2023
To Illinois: 122
To the U.S. as a whole: 2,278
Top states receiving refugees from Iraq
#1. California: 364
#2. Michigan: 260
#3. Texas: 189
#4. Nebraska: 136
#5. Illinois: 122
Milosz Maslanka // Shutterstock
8 / 38Refugees that arrived from Nicaragua since October 2023
To Illinois: 71
To the U.S. as a whole: 3,299
Top states receiving refugees from Nicaragua
#1. Florida: 382
#2. Texas: 313
#3. California: 259
#4. North Carolina: 139
#5. Minnesota: 135
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9 / 38Refugees that arrived from Pakistan since October 2023
To Illinois: 57
To the U.S. as a whole: 856
Top states receiving refugees from Pakistan
#1. Pennsylvania: 120
#2. Texas: 88
#3. Virginia: 62
#4. Illinois: 57
#5. North Carolina: 56
Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock
10 / 38Refugees that arrived from Sudan since October 2023
To Illinois: 40
To the U.S. as a whole: 2,180
Top states receiving refugees from Sudan
#1. New York: 194
#2. Texas: 170
#3. Ohio: 146
#4. Pennsylvania: 132
#5. Missouri: 124
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11 / 38Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October 2023
To Illinois: 38
To the U.S. as a whole: 2,410
Top states receiving refugees from Eritrea
#1. Texas: 286
#2. Washington: 253
#3. lowa: 162
#4. North Carolina: 141
#5. Maryland: 129
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12 / 38Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October 2023
To Illinois: 32
To the U.S. as a whole: 4,801
Top states receiving refugees from Somalia
#1. Minnesota: 1,267
#2. New York: 366
#3. Ohio: 326
#4. Arizona: 280
#5. Missouri: 257
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13 / 38Refugees that arrived from Honduras since October 2023
To Illinois: 30
To the U.S. as a whole: 901
Top states receiving refugees from Honduras
#1. Texas: 144
#2. Florida: 108
#3. New York: 62
#4. California: 48
#5. Georgia: 44
Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock
14 / 38Refugees that arrived from Colombia since October 2023
To Illinois: 28
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,382
Top states receiving refugees from Colombia
#1. Florida: 137
#2. Texas: 117
#3. New York: 114
#4. Washington: 95
#5. North Carolina: 93
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15 / 38Refugees that arrived from Central African Republic since October 2023
To Illinois: 27
To the U.S. as a whole: 864
Top states receiving refugees from Central African Republic
#1. Missouri: 89
#2. Texas: 82
#3. Michigan: 63
#4. Georgia: 60
#5. Colorado: 56
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16 / 38Refugees that arrived from Republic of Congo since October 2023
To Illinois: 25
To the U.S. as a whole: 353
Top states receiving refugees from Republic of Congo
#1. Missouri: 32
#2. Pennsylvania: 28
#3. Wisconsin: 26
#4. New York: 25
#4. Illinois: 25
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17 / 38Refugees that arrived from Burundi since October 2023
To Illinois: 22
To the U.S. as a whole: 588
Top states receiving refugees from Burundi
#1. Texas: 79
#2. Arizona: 50
#3. Pennsylvania: 44
#4. New York: 43
#5. lowa: 37
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18 / 38Refugees that arrived from Republic of South Sudan since October 2023
To Illinois: 19
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,320
Top states receiving refugees from Republic of South Sudan
#1. Nebraska: 151
#2. Texas: 122
#3. New York: 94
#4. lowa: 88
#5. Colorado: 68
Canva
19 / 38Refugees that arrived from Nigeria since October 2023
To Illinois: 16
To the U.S. as a whole: 111
Top states receiving refugees from Nigeria
#1. Illinois: 16
#2. Missouri: 14
#3. Arizona: 13
#3. North Carolina: 13
#5. Texas: 11
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20 / 38Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since October 2023
To Illinois: 15
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,447
Top states receiving refugees from Ukraine
#1. Washington: 524
#2. California: 248
#3. New York: 90
#4. Florida: 74
#5. South Carolina: 61
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21 / 38Refugees that arrived from Rwanda since October 2023
To Illinois: 11
To the U.S. as a whole: 220
Top states receiving refugees from Rwanda
#1. Texas: 49
#2. Arizona: 19
#3. Kentucky: 13
#4. South Carolina: 12
#5. Illinois: 11
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22 / 38Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since October 2023
To Illinois: 11
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,331
Top states receiving refugees from El Salvador
#1. California: 187
#2. Texas: 174
#3. Maryland: 119
#4. Virginia: 99
#5. North Carolina: 83
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23 / 38Refugees that arrived from Palestine since October 2023
To Illinois: 10
To the U.S. as a whole: 30
Top states receiving refugees from Palestine
#1. Illinois: 10
#2. New Jersey: 4
#2. Ohio: 4
#2. Oregon: 4
#5. Michigan: 3
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24 / 38Refugees that arrived from Iran since October 2023
To Illinois: 10
To the U.S. as a whole: 470
Top states receiving refugees from Iran
#1. California: 277
#2. Texas: 53
#3. Michigan: 17
#4. Washington: 14
#4. Georgia: 14
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25 / 38Refugees that arrived from Haiti since October 2023
To Illinois: 7
To the U.S. as a whole: 256
Top states receiving refugees from Haiti
#1. Pennsylvania: 41
#2. Florida: 31
#3. Nevada: 16
#3. Texas: 16
#5. Georgia: 15
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26 / 38Refugees that arrived from Kyrgyzstan since October 2023
To Illinois: 7
To the U.S. as a whole: 80
Top states receiving refugees from Kyrgyzstan
#1. New York: 37
#2. Minnesota: 15
#3. Oregon: 8
#3. Pennsylvania: 8
#5. Illinois: 7
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27 / 38Refugees that arrived from Russia since October 2023
To Illinois: 6
To the U.S. as a whole: 347
Top states receiving refugees from Russia
#1. Washington: 83
#2. California: 78
#3. Oregon: 43
#4. Minnesota: 22
#4. North Carolina: 22
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28 / 38Refugees that arrived from Moldova since October 2023
To Illinois: 4
To the U.S. as a whole: 366
Top states receiving refugees from Moldova
#1. Washington: 114
#2. California: 107
#3. Florida: 24
#3. Oregon: 24
#5. Minnesota: 17
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29 / 38Refugees that arrived from Belarus since October 2023
To Illinois: 4
To the U.S. as a whole: 391
Top states receiving refugees from Belarus
#1. Washington: 91
#2. California: 89
#3. Massachusetts: 34
#4. New York: 27
#5. Pennsylvania: 24
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30 / 38Refugees that arrived from The Gambia since October 2023
To Illinois: 4
To the U.S. as a whole: 13
Top states receiving refugees from The Gambia
#1. Illinois: 4
#1. Texas: 4
#3. Michigan: 3
#4. Georgia: 2
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31 / 38Refugees that arrived from Vietnam since October 2023
To Illinois: 3
To the U.S. as a whole: 118
Top states receiving refugees from Vietnam
#1. Minnesota: 52
#2. North Carolina: 37
#3. California: 8
#4. Oklahoma: 7
#5. Arkansas: 5
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32 / 38Refugees that arrived from Senegal since October 2023
To Illinois: 3
To the U.S. as a whole: 84
Top states receiving refugees from Senegal
#1. Massachusetts: 16
#2. South Carolina: 15
#3. Florida: 9
#3. Georgia: 9
#5. Texas: 8
Beata Tabak // Shutterstock
33 / 38Refugees that arrived from Ivory Coast since October 2023
To Illinois: 3
To the U.S. as a whole: 66
Top states receiving refugees from Ivory Coast
#1. Pennsylvania: 10
#2. Minnesota: 8
#3. Massachusetts: 7
#4. Arkansas: 6
#5. Florida: 4
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34 / 38Refugees that arrived from Cuba since October 2023
To Illinois: 3
To the U.S. as a whole: 255
Top states receiving refugees from Cuba
#1. Florida: 98
#2. Texas: 33
#3. New York: 12
#3. Maryland: 12
#5. Tennessee: 10
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35 / 38Refugees that arrived from Jordan since October 2023
To Illinois: 2
To the U.S. as a whole: 7
Top states receiving refugees from Jordan
#1. Massachusetts: 3
#2. Illinois: 2
#2. North Carolina: 2
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36 / 38Refugees that arrived from Uganda since October 2023
To Illinois: 2
To the U.S. as a whole: 46
Top states receiving refugees from Uganda
#1. Missouri: 12
#2. Massachusetts: 6
#3. Michigan: 5
#3. Ohio: 5
#5. Washington: 4
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37 / 38Refugees that arrived from Guinea since October 2023
To Illinois: 2
To the U.S. as a whole: 78
Top states receiving refugees from Guinea
#1. Colorado: 15
#2. Georgia: 9
#3. North Carolina: 7
#4. Michigan: 6
#5. Arizona: 5
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38 / 38Refugees that arrived from Kenya since October 2023
To Illinois: 2
To the U.S. as a whole: 9
Top states receiving refugees from Kenya
#1. Nebraska: 5
#2. Illinois: 2
#2. Washington: 2
This story features data reporting and writing by Emma Rubin and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 48 states.
