A Refugee’s Journey
A tiny fraction of the world’s 27 million refugees are settled in the US. Here’s what that grueling path looks like.
By Shayanne Gal
Illustrations by Tara Anand
There are 27 million refugees around the world. As of April 30, just 10,742 refugees have been given a permanent home in the US this year.
They often flee their home countries with little more than the clothes on their backs – leaving behind homes, treasured possessions, careers, and loved ones to embark on a long and uncertain journey to safety.
Some refugees will remain in limbo for years.
US refugee resettlement, FY 2002–2022
Source: US Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
Notes: 2022 data is as of April 30, 2022. Based on the terms of a settlement in Doe et a. v. Trump et al., certain refugee applicants that arrived in FY 2020 and any later fiscal years are counted toward the FY 2018 refugee admissions ceiling.
In 2021, just 20 countries accepted refugees for resettlement. While the US always accepts the most, the specific number is set by the president, in consultation with Congress, each fiscal year.
President Trump slashed the number for 2020 to 18,000 — a drastic reduction from the 85,000 refugees admitted under President Obama four years earlier.
For the current fiscal year, Biden increased the ceiling to 125,000 refugees — the highest number since 1993 — but the US has already fallen behind.
The journey to be designated as a refugee by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and then approved for resettlement in a new country is a long and complicated one — especially if the person is assigned to the US.
The total processing time for refugee-resettlement applications fluctuates depending on an applicant’s location and the circumstances of their case. It typically takes 18 to 24 months from a refugee’s initial UNHCR referral to their arrival in the US.
Changes to immigration policies, bureaucratic delays, limited funding, and the COVID-19 pandemic have made that wait longer.
The process starts once a person flees conflict or persecution in their home country.
Top refugee origin countries, 2021
Source: UNHCR
Notes: Data does not include Venezuelans displaced abroad who are likely to be in need of international protection but have not applied for refugee status.
According to UNHCR’s 2021 report, 65% of refugees fled just five countries — Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Conflicts in 2022, including the war in Ukraine, will impact these numbers. As of June 16, the UN estimates that 5 million refugees have already fled Ukraine.
The country that a refugee flees to — often across a single border — is known as the first asylum or host country. Refugees typically live in a camp while they await a determination on their long-term status.
Top refugee first asylum countries, 2021
Source: UNHCR
8.9 million refugees are hosted in just five countries — Turkey, Uganda, Pakistan, Germany, and Sudan.
From the host country, the person registers with UNHCR, which determines if they qualify as a refugee under international law. The organization then determines if the person should be considered for safe return to their home country, local integration in their host country, or permanent resettlement in a third country.
During this process, UNHCR interviews the person, reviews their documents, and collects biometric data such as fingerprints and iris scans.
UNHCR determines whether a refugee should be resettled and where. The country is determined based on the urgency of protection, country quotas, family ties, and the existence of relevant services. The decision is not made by the refugee.
If a refugee is assigned to the US, there is then a rigorous security-clearance process. The US Refugee Admissions Program contracts a Resettlement Support Center to conduct a prescreening interview and collect the refugee's biographical information and documents.
The refugee's name is run through the Consular Lookout and Support System, which will identify whether they are on any watch lists. Occasionally, they will be required to undergo an additional review called a Security Advisory Opinion.
The refugee is checked against multiple law-enforcement and intelligence agencies, including the National Counterterrorism Center. This process will be repeated multiple times to detect new red flags that might come up after the initial screening.
The refugee undergoes an in-person interview with a US Citizenship and Immigration Services officer to determine whether their case qualifies for resettlement.
The USCIS may give conditional approval for the refugee and submit it to the State Department for final processing.
The refugee must once again undergo three biometric checks, in which their fingerprints and photos are run through a host of systems set up by the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense.
They also undergo medical screening to ensure they can travel and that they don't pose a health risk to the American public.
Refugees are then given a cultural orientation by a Resettlement Support Center to help them become self-sufficient as quickly as possible and prepare them for some of the most common challenges that refugees experience once they are resettled.
The refugee is then referred to the International Organization for Migration, which arranges their flight and a travel loan, and provides additional support once they arrive in the US.
When they finally arrive at a US airport, they are reviewed once more by the Customs and Border Protection agency and are checked against the National Targeting Center Passenger program and the TSA’s Secure Flight program.
They are then transported to their transitional housing, which has basic furnishings, food, and other necessities.
Refugees will receive some assistance from a nonprofit resettlement agency assigned to them for up to 90 days. This can include registering children for school, applying for Social Security cards, accessing employment services, and finding social or language resources.
US states that accepted refugees in FY 2021
Source: US Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
Notes: State data was not available for 10 resettled refugees.
Refugees do not get to choose which state they'll live in. They are generally placed in cities where they have relatives or an existing community of people from their home country.
California, Texas, and New York accept the highest number of refugees. Alabama, Hawaii, Mississippi, and Wyoming accepted zero in 2021.
More than 3 million refugees from around the world have gone through this rigorous process since 1980, when the US implemented its current refugee-admissions program. Since then, the US has consistently been the most welcoming country in the world.
But if the trend of historically low admissions continues, it will be even harder for the world’s most vulnerable people to be able to build a new life in the US.