Where refugees in California are arriving from
Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock
Where refugees in California 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 California in January 2023.
January refugee statistics
Countries where refugees arrived from in January
California
#1. Afghanistan: 48
#2. Syria: 31
#3. Ukraine: 28
#4. Armenia: 14
#5. Guatemala: 13
#6. Burma: 8
#7. Democratic Republic of the Congo: 6
#8. El Salvador: 4
#8. Russia: 4
#10. Moldova: 2
#10. Palestine: 2
#12. Eritrea: 1
#12. Iran: 1
#12. China: 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 California has accepted the most refugees from since January 2023
Canva
#1. Afghanistan
Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since January 2023
California: 226
National: 1,192
Top states
#1. California: 226
#2. Texas: 139
#3. Virginia: 134
#4. Washington: 87
#5. New York: 68
Ruslan Lytvyn // Shutterstock
#2. Ukraine
Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since January 2023
California: 97
National: 513
Top states
#1. Washington: 177
#2. California: 97
#3. South Carolina: 35
#4. Pennsylvania: 30
#5. New York: 26
hanohiki // Shutterstock
#3. Syria
Refugees that arrived from Syria since January 2023
California: 62
National: 877
Top states
#1. Michigan: 112
#2. California: 62
#2. Pennsylvania: 62
#4. North Carolina: 52
#5. Washington: 49
Lauren Squire // Shutterstock
#4. Guatemala
Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since January 2023
California: 54
National: 486
Top states
#1. California: 54
#2. New York: 42
#3. North Carolina: 33
#4. Pennsylvania: 31
#4. Georgia: 31
Sebastian Castelier // Shutterstock
#5. Armenia
Refugees that arrived from Armenia since January 2023
California: 43
National: 48
Top states
#1. California: 43
#2. South Carolina: 5
JackKPhoto // Shutterstock
#6. Moldova
Refugees that arrived from Moldova since January 2023
California: 33
National: 106
Top states
#1. California: 33
#2. Massachusetts: 21
#3. Georgia: 18
#4. Washington: 10
#5. Minnesota: 6
Andrew V Marcus // Shutterstock
#7. Iran
Refugees that arrived from Iran since January 2023
California: 25
National: 58
Top states
#1. California: 25
#2. Arizona: 6
#3. Illinois: 5
#4. New Jersey: 4
#5. Texas: 3
Kellys Portillo/APHOTOGRAFIA //Getty Images
#7. El Salvador
Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since January 2023
California: 25
National: 269
Top states
#1. North Carolina: 35
#2. Texas: 32
#3. California: 25
#3. Florida: 25
#5. Maryland: 22
Katja Tsvetkova // Shutterstock
#9. Democratic Republic of the Congo
Refugees that arrived from Democratic Republic of the Congo since January 2023
California: 19
National: 2,555
Top states
#1. Kentucky: 277
#2. Texas: 233
#3. Ohio: 189
#4. Arizona: 141
#5. Michigan: 123
Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock
#9. Sudan
Refugees that arrived from Sudan since January 2023
California: 19
National: 212
Top states
#1. Idaho: 33
#2. California: 19
#2. New York: 19
#4. Kansas: 18
#5. Nebraska: 17
Chantal de Bruijne // Shutterstock
#11. Burma
Refugees that arrived from Burma since January 2023
California: 13
National: 1,170
Top states
#1. Wisconsin: 238
#2. Texas: 113
#3. Indiana: 110
#4. New York: 107
#5. Illinois: 66
amnat30 // Shutterstock
#12. Honduras
Refugees that arrived from Honduras since January 2023
California: 10
National: 143
Top states
#1. Texas: 23
#2. Washington: 20
#3. Illinois: 14
#4. California: 10
#5. Maryland: 9
Focus and Blur // Shutterstock
#13. Iraq
Refugees that arrived from Iraq since January 2023
California: 8
National: 127
Top states
#1. Michigan: 31
#2. North Carolina: 9
#2. Texas: 9
#2. Ohio: 9
#2. Massachusetts: 9
Ibrahim Erikan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
#14. Uzbekistan
Refugees that arrived from Uzbekistan since January 2023
California: 6
National: 31
Top states
#1. Washington: 10
#2. Ohio: 8
#3. California: 6
#4. New York: 5
#5. Florida: 2
Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock
#14. Colombia
Refugees that arrived from Colombia since January 2023
California: 6
National: 339
Top states
#1. North Carolina: 44
#2. New York: 39
#3. Texas: 36
#4. Florida: 27
#5. Pennsylvania: 24
W_NAMKET // Shutterstock
#16. Pakistan
Refugees that arrived from Pakistan since January 2023
California: 5
National: 71
Top states
#1. Pennsylvania: 25
#2. New York: 15
#3. Georgia: 10
#4. Indiana: 6
#5. California: 5
YuryKara // Shutterstock
#16. Russia
Refugees that arrived from Russia since January 2023
California: 5
National: 16
Top states
#1. Washington: 6
#2. California: 5
#2. South Carolina: 5
A. Aleksandravicius // Shutterstock
#18. China
Refugees that arrived from China since January 2023
California: 3
National: 4
Top states
#1. California: 3
#2. Colorado: 1
Dave Primov // Shutterstock
#19. Somalia
Refugees that arrived from Somalia since January 2023
California: 2
National: 174
Top states
#1. Minnesota: 54
#2. Ohio: 19
#3. New York: 13
#4. Georgia: 12
#5. Pennsylvania: 10
Stephen Butler // Shutterstock
#19. Palestine
Refugees that arrived from Palestine since January 2023
California: 2
National: 5
Top states
#1. California: 2
#1. Ohio: 2
#3. New York: 1
Tremens Productions // Shutterstock
#21. Mali
Refugees that arrived from Mali since January 2023
California: 1
National: 19
Top states
#1. Not Available: 4
#1. North Carolina: 4
#3. Arizona: 2
#3. Louisiana: 2
#3. Michigan: 2
Dave Primov // Shutterstock
#21. Eritrea
Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since January 2023
California: 1
National: 216
Top states
#1. New York: 23
#2. Tennessee: 22
#3. lowa: 15
#4. Washington: 14
#4. Ohio: 14
