The U.S. Department of State resettled over 14 thousand refugees from October 1 to December 1, its strongest two-month showing in seven years. The following article was published in the January-February 2024 issue of NewsNotes.
The U.S. Department of State resettled 14,830 refugees from October 1, the beginning of Fiscal Year 2024, until December 1, its strongest showing in seven years. The Center for Migration Studies of New York said if the current pace of resettlement continues throughout the fiscal year, the United States is projected to resettle as many as 90,000 refugees in FY 2024.
The largest groups of refugees have been resettled from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Syria.
President Joe Biden set the number of refugees to be resettled in the United States in 2024 at 125,000, the same goal he set for 2022 and 2023. Low refugee admissions under Biden (despite high ceilings) were becoming a trend, however. In FY 2022, a total of 25,465 refugees (20 percent of the 125,000 target) were resettled in the United States. In FY 2023, the United States reached about 50% of the target, resettling 60,214 refugees. The latest numbers show that the U.S. government is continuing to make progress in restoring the program after years of cutbacks during the Trump administration.
Migrants boarding the bus to processing center in Amman, Jordan, © IOM/Muse Mohammed 2015