Where refugees in Massachusetts are arriving from
Where refugees in Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts:
#1. Venezuela: 32
#2. Afghanistan: 30
#3. Guatemala: 18
#4. Sudan: 10
#5. Myanmar: 9
#5. Somalia: 9
#5. Syria: 9
#8. Honduras: 6
#9. El Salvador: 4
#9. Eritrea: 4
#9. Nicaragua: 4
#12. Congo: 1
#12. Haiti: 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 Massachusetts has accepted the most refugees from since the start of the fiscal year in October 2023.
#1. Congo
Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 332
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
#2. Syria
Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 312
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. Afghanistan
Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 260
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
#4. Venezuela
Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 102
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
#5. Guatemala
Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 91
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
#6. Sudan
Refugees that arrived from Sudan since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 68
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
#7. Somalia
Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 52
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
#8. Myanmar
Refugees that arrived from Myanmar since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 47
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
#9. El Salvador
Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 40
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. Central African Republic
Refugees that arrived from Central African Republic since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 38
To the U.S. as a whole: 725
Top states receiving refugees from Central African Republic
#1. Missouri: 75
#2. Texas: 72
#3. Michigan: 55
#4. Georgia: 43
#5. North Carolina: 40
#10. Iraq
Refugees that arrived from Iraq since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 38
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
#12. Eritrea
Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 33
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
#13. Belarus
Refugees that arrived from Belarus since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 26
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
#14. Burundi
Refugees that arrived from Burundi since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 23
To the U.S. as a whole: 476
Top states receiving refugees from Burundi
#1. Texas: 54
#2. Arizona: 49
#3. New York: 41
#4. Pennsylvania: 37
#5. Iowa: 30
#15. Republic of Congo
Refugees that arrived from Republic of Congo since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 21
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
#16. Nicaragua
Refugees that arrived from Nicaragua since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 20
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
#17. Senegal
Refugees that arrived from Senegal since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 15
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
#17. Honduras
Refugees that arrived from Honduras since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 15
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
#19. Republic of South Sudan
Refugees that arrived from Republic of South Sudan since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 12
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,045
Top states receiving refugees from Republic of South Sudan
#1. Texas: 101
#2. Nebraska: 95
#3. New York: 85
#4. Colorado: 66
#4. Arizona: 66
#20. Moldova
Refugees that arrived from Moldova since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 10
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
#21. Ukraine
Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 9
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
#22. Kazakhstan
Refugees that arrived from Kazakhstan since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 8
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. Nigeria
Refugees that arrived from Nigeria since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 8
To the U.S. as a whole: 106
Top states receiving refugees from Nigeria
#1. Illinois: 16
#2. Missouri: 14
#3. Arizona: 13
#3. North Carolina: 13
#5. Kansas: 9
#24. Ivory Coast
Refugees that arrived from Ivory Coast since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 7
To the U.S. as a whole: 63
Top states receiving refugees from Ivory Coast
#1. Pennsylvania: 10
#2. Minnesota: 8
#3. Massachusetts: 7
#4. Arkansas: 6
#5. Florida: 4
#25. Cameroon
Refugees that arrived from Cameroon since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 6
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
#25. Uganda
Refugees that arrived from Uganda since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 6
To the U.S. as a whole: 35
Top states receiving refugees from Uganda
#1. Massachusetts: 6
#1. Missouri: 6
#3. Ohio: 5
#4. Michigan: 4
#4. Washington: 4
#27. Ethiopia
Refugees that arrived from Ethiopia since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 5
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
#28. Jordan
Refugees that arrived from Jordan since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 3
To the U.S. as a whole: 5
Top states receiving refugees from Jordan
#1. Massachusetts: 3
#2. North Carolina: 2
#28. Haiti
Refugees that arrived from Haiti since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 3
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
#28. Brazil
Refugees that arrived from Brazil since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 3
To the U.S. as a whole: 3
Top states receiving refugees from Brazil
#1. Massachusetts: 3
#31. Algeria
Refugees that arrived from Algeria since October 2023
To Massachusetts: 2
To the U.S. as a whole: 5
Top states receiving refugees from Algeria
#1. California: 3
#2. Massachusetts: 2
This story features data reporting and writing by Emma Rubin and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 46 states.
