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Where refugees in Maryland are arriving from

Written by:
Stacker
September 9, 2024
Robsonphoto // Shutterstock

Where refugees in Maryland 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 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 Maryland 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 Maryland:
#1. Guatemala: 43
#2. Venezuela: 39
#3. Afghanistan: 21
#4. Myanmar: 16
#5. Syria: 15
#6. Nicaragua: 13
#7. Congo: 11
#8. Pakistan: 10
#9. Eritrea: 7
#10. Republic of South Sudan: 5
#11. Cuba: 4
#11. El Salvador: 4
#11. Honduras: 4
#11. Somalia: 4
#15. Iraq: 2
#16. Sudan: 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 Maryland has accepted the most refugees from since the start of the fiscal year in October 2023.

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#1. Afghanistan

Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October 2023
To Maryland: 491

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

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hanohiki // Shutterstock

#2. Syria

Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2023
To Maryland: 189

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

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Lauren Squire // Shutterstock

#3. Guatemala

Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2023
To Maryland: 167

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

An aerial view of caracas, Venezuela.
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#4. Venezuela

Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2023
To Maryland: 148

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

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#5. El Salvador

Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since October 2023
To Maryland: 112

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

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Katja Tsvetkova // Shutterstock

#6. Congo

Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2023
To Maryland: 106

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

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Dave Primov // Shutterstock

#7. Eritrea

Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October 2023
To Maryland: 93

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

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Chantal de Bruijne // Shutterstock

#8. Myanmar

Refugees that arrived from Myanmar since October 2023
To Maryland: 69

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

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Milosz Maslanka // Shutterstock

#9. Nicaragua

Refugees that arrived from Nicaragua since October 2023
To Maryland: 67

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

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punghi // Shutterstock

#10. Republic of South Sudan

Refugees that arrived from Republic of South Sudan since October 2023
To Maryland: 53

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,135
Top states receiving refugees from Republic of South Sudan
#1. Nebraska: 122
#2. Texas: 107
#3. New York: 91
#4. Colorado: 66
#4. Arizona: 66

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Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock

#11. Sudan

Refugees that arrived from Sudan since October 2023
To Maryland: 47

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,902
Top states receiving refugees from Sudan
#1. New York: 188
#2. Texas: 158
#3. Ohio: 130
#4. Pennsylvania: 120
#5. Missouri: 117

People walking through the Chitta Gate in the old town area of Lahore
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W_NAMKET // Shutterstock

#12. Pakistan

Refugees that arrived from Pakistan since October 2023
To Maryland: 46

To the U.S. as a whole: 780
Top states receiving refugees from Pakistan
#1. Pennsylvania: 110
#2. Texas: 77
#3. Virginia: 62
#4. New York: 51
#5. Illinois: 49

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amnat30 // Shutterstock

#13. Honduras

Refugees that arrived from Honduras since October 2023
To Maryland: 31

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

Elevated view of Baghdad street scene
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Focus and Blur // Shutterstock

#14. Iraq

Refugees that arrived from Iraq since October 2023
To Maryland: 30

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,897
Top states receiving refugees from Iraq
#1. California: 283
#2. Michigan: 219
#3. Texas: 173
#4. Nebraska: 127
#5. Washington: 114

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Rostasedlacek // Shutterstock

#15. Burundi

Refugees that arrived from Burundi since October 2023
To Maryland: 24

To the U.S. as a whole: 527
Top states receiving refugees from Burundi
#1. Texas: 65
#2. Arizona: 49
#3. New York: 41
#4. Pennsylvania: 38
#5. Nebraska: 30

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Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock

#16. Colombia

Refugees that arrived from Colombia since October 2023
To Maryland: 14

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

Muslim woman in hijab waking on streets of Hargeisa
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Dave Primov // Shutterstock

#17. Somalia

Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October 2023
To Maryland: 13

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

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sandis sveicers // Shutterstock

#18. Central African Republic

Refugees that arrived from Central African Republic since October 2023
To Maryland: 12

To the U.S. as a whole: 797
Top states receiving refugees from Central African Republic
#1. Missouri: 80
#2. Texas: 75
#3. Georgia: 60
#4. Colorado: 56
#5. Michigan: 55

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Artush // Shutterstock

#19. Ethiopia

Refugees that arrived from Ethiopia since October 2023
To Maryland: 9

To the U.S. as a whole: 376
Top states receiving refugees from Ethiopia
#1. Minnesota: 111
#2. Washington: 31
#2. Texas: 31
#4. Ohio: 27
#5. Georgia: 26

A distant view of the Havana skyline in Cuba.
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#20. Cuba

Refugees that arrived from Cuba since October 2023
To Maryland: 8

To the U.S. as a whole: 196
Top states receiving refugees from Cuba
#1. Florida: 74
#2. Texas: 30
#3. New York: 12
#4. Tennessee: 10
#5. Washington: 8

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#21. Cameroon

Refugees that arrived from Cameroon since October 2023
To Maryland: 7

To the U.S. as a whole: 105
Top states receiving refugees from Cameroon
#1. Texas: 13
#1. Pennsylvania: 13
#3. Nevada: 8
#4. Maryland: 7
#4. California: 7

People gather in a urban park on the streets of Tehran
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Andrew V Marcus // Shutterstock

#22. Iran

Refugees that arrived from Iran since October 2023
To Maryland: 5

To the U.S. as a whole: 440
Top states receiving refugees from Iran
#1. California: 268
#2. Texas: 47
#3. Michigan: 17
#4. Washington: 13
#4. Georgia: 13

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#22. Sierra Leone

Refugees that arrived from Sierra Leone since October 2023
To Maryland: 5

To the U.S. as a whole: 5
Top states receiving refugees from Sierra Leone
#1. Maryland: 5

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#22. Mali

Refugees that arrived from Mali since October 2023
To Maryland: 5

To the U.S. as a whole: 181
Top states receiving refugees from Mali
#1. Pennsylvania: 27
#2. New York: 24
#3. South Carolina: 23
#4. Missouri: 16
#5. Connecticut: 13

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Beata Tabak // Shutterstock

#25. Ivory Coast

Refugees that arrived from Ivory Coast since October 2023
To Maryland: 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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Salvador Aznar // Shutterstock

#26. Senegal

Refugees that arrived from Senegal since October 2023
To Maryland: 2

To the U.S. as a whole: 60
Top states receiving refugees from Senegal
#1. Massachusetts: 16
#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 48 states.

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