Where refugees in Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia:
#1. Afghanistan: 123
#2. Venezuela: 32
#3. Congo: 19
#4. Guatemala: 16
#5. Syria: 6
#6. Nicaragua: 4
#6. Republic of South Sudan: 4
#8. El Salvador: 3
#8. Honduras: 3
#10. Somalia: 2
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 Virginia has accepted the most refugees from since the start of the fiscal year in October 2023.
#1. Afghanistan
Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October 2023
To Virginia: 1,042
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
#2. Congo
Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2023
To Virginia: 234
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
#3. Syria
Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2023
To Virginia: 167
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
#4. Guatemala
Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2023
To Virginia: 104
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
#5. Venezuela
Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2023
To Virginia: 90
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
#6. El Salvador
Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since October 2023
To Virginia: 80
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
#7. Pakistan
Refugees that arrived from Pakistan since October 2023
To Virginia: 62
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
#8. Iraq
Refugees that arrived from Iraq since October 2023
To Virginia: 45
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
#9. Eritrea
Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October 2023
To Virginia: 41
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
#10. Ukraine
Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since October 2023
To Virginia: 38
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,346
Top states receiving refugees from Ukraine
#1. Washington: 507
#2. California: 226
#3. New York: 81
#4. Florida: 66
#5. Ohio: 54
#10. Nicaragua
Refugees that arrived from Nicaragua since October 2023
To Virginia: 38
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
#12. Honduras
Refugees that arrived from Honduras since October 2023
To Virginia: 28
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
#13. Sudan
Refugees that arrived from Sudan since October 2023
To Virginia: 16
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
#14. Colombia
Refugees that arrived from Colombia since October 2023
To Virginia: 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
#15. Russia
Refugees that arrived from Russia since October 2023
To Virginia: 12
To the U.S. as a whole: 335
Top states receiving refugees from Russia
#1. Washington: 83
#2. California: 75
#3. Oregon: 43
#4. Minnesota: 22
#4. North Carolina: 22
#16. Republic of Congo
Refugees that arrived from Republic of Congo since October 2023
To Virginia: 11
To the U.S. as a whole: 352
Top states receiving refugees from Republic of Congo
#1. Missouri: 32
#2. Pennsylvania: 28
#3. Wisconsin: 26
#4. New York: 25
#4. Illinois: 25
#16. Republic of South Sudan
Refugees that arrived from Republic of South Sudan since October 2023
To Virginia: 11
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
#16. Iran
Refugees that arrived from Iran since October 2023
To Virginia: 11
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
#19. Mali
Refugees that arrived from Mali since October 2023
To Virginia: 10
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
#20. Myanmar
Refugees that arrived from Myanmar since October 2023
To Virginia: 9
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
#21. Central African Republic
Refugees that arrived from Central African Republic since October 2023
To Virginia: 6
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
#22. Somalia
Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October 2023
To Virginia: 4
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
#22. Ethiopia
Refugees that arrived from Ethiopia since October 2023
To Virginia: 4
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
#24. Burundi
Refugees that arrived from Burundi since October 2023
To Virginia: 3
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
This story features data reporting and writing by Emma Rubin and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 48 states.