Top Takeaways - A major turnaround from the Trump years: Just 11,400 refugees were resettled in the United States in FY 2021, after the Trump administration made steep cuts to the resettlement program and amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The about-face represents not just a return to normal but an expansion of the system.
- But still far short of historic highs: Despite the turnaround, the 197,000 refugees resettled during the Biden administration remain among the lowest for a presidential term. Meanwhile, the number of refugees globally climbed to a record 31.6 million in 2023.
- Bigger, faster, and more efficient: In rebuilding the system, the U.S. government nearly tripled funding for resettlement from FY 2020 to FY 2024. It also increased use of video teleconferencing interviews, digitization, and streamlined vetting to allow officers to review more cases while keeping safeguards in place.
- Refugee resettlement working as a complement to asylum: The U.S. refugee resettlement program is different from the asylum system that protects humanitarian migrants applying from within the United States, given consideration for refugee resettlement happens while the person is abroad. The Biden administration has promoted refugee resettlement and other lawful pathways such as humanitarian parole as an alternative to irregular migration at the southwest border.
- Record numbers from the Western Hemisphere: The more than 25,000 refugees resettled from elsewhere in the Americas in FY 2024 was the most ever and a quadrupling from FY 2023. This increase was partly made possible by the rollout of Safe Mobility Offices (SMOs) in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Guatemala, which allow individuals to apply for protection from closer to their origin countries.
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Did You Know? It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in U.S. federal elections, and evidence indicates that cases of voter fraud by immigrants are exceedingly rare. One study found that elections officials in 42 jurisdictions reported that just 0.0001 percent of the 23.5 million votes cast were by suspected noncitizens. Ahead of Election Day, learn more with MPI’s explainer on Noncitizen Voting in U.S. Elections. |
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Migration Information Source
Read MPI's journal, which publishes interesting articles that delve into U.S. and global migration issues; profile countries' migration histories, trends, and laws; and offer accessible, data-rich spotlights of U.S. immigrant populations. |
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