Where refugees in Massachusetts are arriving from
Where refugees in Massachusetts are arriving from
Within the first five months of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early February 2022, the U.S. admitted more than 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. Most of these refugees were admitted through a special program called humanitarian parole, which falls outside the scope of the data tracking carried out by the Refugee Processing Center. Humanitarian parole allows refugees who meet certain criteria to gain temporary legal status in the U.S. and applications are processed differently than traditional refugee resettlement applications.
In January 2023, the greatest number of refugees admitted by the U.S. came from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, and Afghanistan. Each nation struggles with a unique set of circumstances that can make their citizens unsafe if they stay in their home country.
For the last three decades, the DRC has been struggling with a vast humanitarian crisis that has left millions of people displaced, both internally and externally, with many people fleeing to neighboring countries. Syria has seen nearly 7 million refugees leave the country since 2011 while a longstanding civil war rages and has displaced an additional nearly 7 million people internally. Afghan refugees have been fleeing to neighboring countries for decades, especially Pakistan and Iran, which combined host nearly 2 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 Massachusetts in January 2023.
January refugee statistics
Countries where refugees arrived from in January
Massachusetts
#1. Moldova: 10
#2. Ukraine: 7
#3. Somalia: 6
#4. Afghanistan: 5
#4. Burma: 5
#4. Democratic Republic of the Congo: 5
#7. Guatemala: 3
#7. Venezuela: 3
#9. Bhutan: 2
#9. Guinea: 2
#11. Cameroon: 1
#11. Iraq: 1
#11. Nicaragua: 1
#11. Senegal: 1
National
#1. Democratic Republic of the Congo: 752
#2. Afghanistan: 284
#3. Syria: 284
#4. Burma: 264
#5. Colombia: 193
States that accepted the most refugees in January
#1. Texas: 194
#2. Kentucky: 176
#3. California: 163
#4. Pennsylvania: 139
#5. Ohio: 127
Read on to see the countries that Massachusetts has accepted the most refugees from since January 2023
#1. Democratic Republic of the Congo
Refugees that arrived from Democratic Republic of the Congo since January 2023
Massachusetts: 44
National: 2,555
Top states
#1. Kentucky: 277
#2. Texas: 233
#3. Ohio: 189
#4. Arizona: 141
#5. Michigan: 123
#2. Moldova
Refugees that arrived from Moldova since January 2023
Massachusetts: 21
National: 106
Top states
#1. California: 33
#2. Massachusetts: 21
#3. Georgia: 18
#4. Washington: 10
#5. Minnesota: 6
#2. Syria
Refugees that arrived from Syria since January 2023
Massachusetts: 21
National: 877
Top states
#1. Michigan: 112
#2. California: 62
#2. Pennsylvania: 62
#4. North Carolina: 52
#5. Washington: 49
#4. Ukraine
Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since January 2023
Massachusetts: 20
National: 513
Top states
#1. Washington: 177
#2. California: 97
#3. South Carolina: 35
#4. Pennsylvania: 30
#5. New York: 26
#5. Guatemala
Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since January 2023
Massachusetts: 19
National: 486
Top states
#1. California: 54
#2. New York: 42
#3. North Carolina: 33
#4. Pennsylvania: 31
#4. Georgia: 31
#6. Afghanistan
Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since January 2023
Massachusetts: 16
National: 1,192
Top states
#1. California: 226
#2. Texas: 139
#3. Virginia: 134
#4. Washington: 87
#5. New York: 68
#7. El Salvador
Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since January 2023
Massachusetts: 10
National: 269
Top states
#1. North Carolina: 35
#2. Texas: 32
#3. California: 25
#3. Florida: 25
#5. Maryland: 22
#8. Iraq
Refugees that arrived from Iraq since January 2023
Massachusetts: 9
National: 127
Top states
#1. Michigan: 31
#2. North Carolina: 9
#2. Texas: 9
#2. Ohio: 9
#2. Massachusetts: 9
#9. Burma
Refugees that arrived from Burma since January 2023
Massachusetts: 7
National: 1,170
Top states
#1. Wisconsin: 238
#2. Texas: 113
#3. Indiana: 110
#4. New York: 107
#5. Illinois: 66
#9. Eritrea
Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since January 2023
Massachusetts: 7
National: 216
Top states
#1. New York: 23
#2. Tennessee: 22
#3. lowa: 15
#4. Washington: 14
#4. Ohio: 14
#11. Somalia
Refugees that arrived from Somalia since January 2023
Massachusetts: 6
National: 174
Top states
#1. Minnesota: 54
#2. Ohio: 19
#3. New York: 13
#4. Georgia: 12
#5. Pennsylvania: 10
#12. Senegal
Refugees that arrived from Senegal since January 2023
Massachusetts: 4
National: 31
Top states
#1. North Carolina: 6
#2. Massachusetts: 4
#2. Michigan: 4
#4. New York: 3
#4. South Carolina: 3
#13. Honduras
Refugees that arrived from Honduras since January 2023
Massachusetts: 3
National: 143
Top states
#1. Texas: 23
#2. Washington: 20
#3. Illinois: 14
#4. California: 10
#5. Maryland: 9
#13. Venezuela
Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since January 2023
Massachusetts: 3
National: 154
Top states
#1. Florida: 52
#2. Illinois: 15
#3. Pennsylvania: 12
#4. Texas: 9
#5. Kentucky: 8
#15. Bhutan
Refugees that arrived from Bhutan since January 2023
Massachusetts: 2
National: 17
Top states
#1. Ohio: 6
#2. Kentucky: 4
#2. Michigan: 4
#4. Massachusetts: 2
#5. Missouri: 1
#15. Guinea
Refugees that arrived from Guinea since January 2023
Massachusetts: 2
National: 19
Top states
#1. Illinois: 11
#2. Pennsylvania: 3
#3. Kentucky: 2
#3. Massachusetts: 2
#5. North Carolina: 1
#15. Cameroon
Refugees that arrived from Cameroon since January 2023
Massachusetts: 2
National: 19
Top states
#1. New Mexico: 5
#2. Michigan: 4
#3. Illinois: 3
#4. Massachusetts: 2
#5. Nevada: 1
#18. Nicaragua
Refugees that arrived from Nicaragua since January 2023
Massachusetts: 1
National: 15
Top states
#1. lowa: 4
#1. Texas: 4
#3. New Jersey: 1
#3. New Mexico: 1
#3. Arizona: 1
#18. Mali
Refugees that arrived from Mali since January 2023
Massachusetts: 1
National: 19
Top states
#1. Not Available: 4
#1. North Carolina: 4
#3. Arizona: 2
#3. Louisiana: 2
#3. Michigan: 2
