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Where refugees in Oregon are arriving from

Written by:
October 9, 2024
Robsonphoto // Shutterstock

Where refugees in Oregon 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 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 Oregon 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 Oregon:
#1. Myanmar: 41
#2. Congo: 36
#3. Venezuela: 35
#4. Somalia: 13
#5. Ukraine: 11
#6. Syria: 10
#7. Afghanistan: 9
#8. Eritrea: 7
#9. Republic of South Sudan: 6
#10. Ethiopia: 5
#11. Iraq: 4
#11. Palestine: 4
#13. Guatemala: 2
#14. Colombia: 1
#14. El Salvador: 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 Oregon 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 Oregon: 234

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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Chantal de Bruijne // Shutterstock

#2. Myanmar

Refugees that arrived from Myanmar since October 2023
To Oregon: 203

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

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Katja Tsvetkova // Shutterstock

#3. Congo

Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2023
To Oregon: 188

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

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hanohiki // Shutterstock

#4. Syria

Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2023
To Oregon: 122

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. Venezuela

Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2023
To Oregon: 99

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

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Ruslan Lytvyn // Shutterstock

#6. Ukraine

Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since October 2023
To Oregon: 57

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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Lauren Squire // Shutterstock

#7. Guatemala

Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2023
To Oregon: 56

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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Dave Primov // Shutterstock

#8. Somalia

Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October 2023
To Oregon: 50

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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YuryKara // Shutterstock

#9. Russia

Refugees that arrived from Russia since October 2023
To Oregon: 43

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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Focus and Blur // Shutterstock

#10. Iraq

Refugees that arrived from Iraq since October 2023
To Oregon: 29

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

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Dave Primov // Shutterstock

#11. Eritrea

Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October 2023
To Oregon: 27

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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Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock

#11. Sudan

Refugees that arrived from Sudan since October 2023
To Oregon: 27

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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JackKPhoto // Shutterstock

#13. Moldova

Refugees that arrived from Moldova since October 2023
To Oregon: 24

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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Milosz Maslanka // Shutterstock

#14. Nicaragua

Refugees that arrived from Nicaragua since October 2023
To Oregon: 22

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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karp5 // Shutterstock

#15. Belarus

Refugees that arrived from Belarus since October 2023
To Oregon: 20

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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Artush // Shutterstock

#16. Ethiopia

Refugees that arrived from Ethiopia since October 2023
To Oregon: 15

To the U.S. as a whole: 501
Top states receiving refugees from Ethiopia
#1. Minnesota: 152
#2. Washington: 46
#3. Texas: 38
#4. Ohio: 33
#5. Georgia: 29

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punghi // Shutterstock

#17. Republic of South Sudan

Refugees that arrived from Republic of South Sudan since October 2023
To Oregon: 12

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

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Omri Eliyahu // Shutterstock

#18. Kazakhstan

Refugees that arrived from Kazakhstan since October 2023
To Oregon: 10

To the U.S. as a whole: 111
Top states receiving refugees from Kazakhstan
#1. Washington: 43
#2. California: 19
#2. Pennsylvania: 19
#4. Oregon: 10
#5. Massachusetts: 8

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#19. El Salvador

Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since October 2023
To Oregon: 9

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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sandis sveicers // Shutterstock

#19. Central African Republic

Refugees that arrived from Central African Republic since October 2023
To Oregon: 9

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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Rostasedlacek // Shutterstock

#19. Burundi

Refugees that arrived from Burundi since October 2023
To Oregon: 9

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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#22. Kyrgyzstan

Refugees that arrived from Kyrgyzstan since October 2023
To Oregon: 8

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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#22. Mali

Refugees that arrived from Mali since October 2023
To Oregon: 8

To the U.S. as a whole: 185
Top states receiving refugees from Mali
#1. Pennsylvania: 27
#2. New York: 24
#3. South Carolina: 23
#4. Missouri: 16
#5. Connecticut: 13

Armenian people emerge from a church in the city of Metsamore
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Sebastian Castelier // Shutterstock

#24. Armenia

Refugees that arrived from Armenia since October 2023
To Oregon: 5

To the U.S. as a whole: 319
Top states receiving refugees from Armenia
#1. California: 280
#2. Washington: 21
#3. South Carolina: 9
#4. Oregon: 5
#5. Ohio: 4

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#24. Uzbekistan

Refugees that arrived from Uzbekistan since October 2023
To Oregon: 5

To the U.S. as a whole: 53
Top states receiving refugees from Uzbekistan
#1. California: 17
#2. New York: 13
#3. Washington: 12
#4. Ohio: 6
#5. Oregon: 5

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Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock

#24. Colombia

Refugees that arrived from Colombia since October 2023
To Oregon: 5

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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aleksander hunta // Shutterstock

#24. Cambodia

Refugees that arrived from Cambodia since October 2023
To Oregon: 5

To the U.S. as a whole: 58
Top states receiving refugees from Cambodia
#1. Texas: 17
#2. Rhode Island: 10
#3. North Carolina: 7
#4. California: 5
#4. Oregon: 5

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Stephen Butler // Shutterstock

#28. Palestine

Refugees that arrived from Palestine since October 2023
To Oregon: 4

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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Filip Jedraszak // Shutterstock

#28. India

Refugees that arrived from India since October 2023
To Oregon: 4

To the U.S. as a whole: 7
Top states receiving refugees from India
#1. Oregon: 4
#2. Ohio: 3

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Andrew V Marcus // Shutterstock

#30. Iran

Refugees that arrived from Iran since October 2023
To Oregon: 3

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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#30. Cuba

Refugees that arrived from Cuba since October 2023
To Oregon: 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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JoostP // Shutterstock

#30. Turkmenistan

Refugees that arrived from Turkmenistan since October 2023
To Oregon: 3

To the U.S. as a whole: 7
Top states receiving refugees from Turkmenistan
#1. Pennsylvania: 4
#2. Oregon: 3

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Beata Tabak // Shutterstock

#33. Ivory Coast

Refugees that arrived from Ivory Coast since October 2023
To Oregon: 2

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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#33. Nigeria

Refugees that arrived from Nigeria since October 2023
To Oregon: 2

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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#33. Haiti

Refugees that arrived from Haiti since October 2023
To Oregon: 2

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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#33. Vietnam

Refugees that arrived from Vietnam since October 2023
To Oregon: 2

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

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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