DENVER (Stacker) — The Department of Homeland Security announced on Monday, May 9 that roughly 6,000 Ukrainian refugees were approved for temporary entry into the U.S. as part of a program designed to fast-track the admission of 100,000 people displaced by Russia’s war in Ukraine. While similar expedited processes have been used in the past, refugee admissions to the U.S. are typically lower and slower.
The U.S. passed the Refugee Act of 1980 to accommodate hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese and Cambodians fleeing their homes in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. The act pledges to respond to the urgent needs of people around the world who are subject to persecution or have a well-founded fear of persecution often on the basis of race, religion, nationality, social affiliation, or political opinion in their home countries.
Historically, the U.S. has resettled more refugees than any other country. However, despite a decade-long increase in the number of refugees around the world, America’s response to these urgent needs in recent years has been hindered by politics.
In 2021, just 11,411 refugees, mostly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Burma, were admitted to the U.S. under a ceiling of 62,500—the lowest number since the Refugee Act of 1980 was enacted.
Since 2017, refugee resettlement capacity in the U.S. has been reduced by 38%. The country’s resettlement rate dropped 86% in roughly that same period.
In addition to policies that have gutted government agencies responsible for resettlement and created processing roadblocks for applicants—it takes an average of two years to vet refugees for resettlement in the U.S.—fewer refugees in the last five years has resulted in less funding for the programs that still exist. More than 130 resettlement sites around the country have closed due to a lack of funding.
Stacker referenced data from The Refugee Processing Center to compile statistics on the number of refugees and their countries of origin resettled in Colorado in April 2022.
April refugee statistics
Countries where refugees arrived from in April Colorado
#1. Afghanistan: 21
#2. Democratic Republic of the Congo: 9
#3. Burma: 8
#4. Syria: 7
#5. Guatemala: 6
#6. El Salvador: 4
#7. Somalia: 1
National
#1. Democratic Republic of the Congo: 551
#2. Syria: 539
#3. Burma: 226
#4. Afghanistan: 151
#5. Ukraine: 105
States that accepted the most refugees in April
#1. California: 160
#2. Texas: 143
#3. Michigan: 129
#4. New York: 108
#5. Kentucky: 105
Read on to see the countries that Colorado has accepted the most refugees from since October
#1. Democratic Republic of the Congo
Refugees that arrived from Democratic Republic of the Congo since October
Colorado: 50
National: 2,528
Top states
#1. Kentucky: 304
#2. Texas: 243
#3. Michigan: 152
#4. Arizona: 147
#5. Ohio: 128
#2. Burma
Refugees that arrived from Burma since October
Colorado: 42
National: 928
Top states
#1. New York: 133
#2. Wisconsin: 121
#3. Texas: 90
#4. Indiana: 59
#5. North Carolina: 58
#3. Afghanistan
Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October
Colorado: 39
National: 313
Top states
#1. Colorado: 39
#2. California: 38
#3. Virginia: 36
#4. Washington: 26
#5. Texas: 25
#4. Syria
Refugees that arrived from Syria since October
Colorado: 37
National: 2,511
Top states
#1. California: 274
#2. Michigan: 263
#3. Pennsylvania: 182
#4. New York: 179
#5. Florida: 150
#5. Sudan
Refugees that arrived from Sudan since October
Colorado: 34
National: 1,170
Top states
#1. Texas: 100
#2. North Carolina: 91
#3. New York: 65
#4. Idaho: 57
#5. Illinois: 56
#6. Guatemala
Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October
Colorado: 11
National: 489
Top states
#1. California: 106
#2. Texas: 60
#3. New Jersey: 49
#4. Georgia: 30
#5. Arizona: 23
#7. El Salvador
Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since October
Colorado: 8
National: 284
Top states
#1. California: 69
#2. Maryland: 34
#3. Virginia: 25
#4. New York: 19
#5. Texas: 18
#8. Republic of South Sudan
Refugees that arrived from Republic of South Sudan since October
Colorado: 7
National: 216
Top states
#1. Arizona: 41
#2. Maryland: 24
#3. Utah: 20
#4. Texas: 19
#5. Missouri: 19
#9. Honduras
Refugees that arrived from Honduras since October
Colorado: 5
National: 249
Top states
#1. Florida: 26
#2. Texas: 25
#3. Massachusetts: 24
#4. Virginia: 20
#5. North Carolina: 17
#10. Somalia
Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October
Colorado: 5
National: 219
Top states
#1. Minnesota: 62
#2. Ohio: 19
#3. Washington: 19
#4. Kentucky: 14
#5. New York: 13
#11. Ethiopia
Refugees that arrived from Ethiopia since October
Colorado: 5
National: 53
Top states
#1. Minnesota: 15
#2. Maryland: 9
#3. Texas: 6
#4. Colorado: 5
#5. Washington: 5
#12. Uganda
Refugees that arrived from Uganda since October
Colorado: 4
National: 53
Top states
#1. California: 7
#2. Tennessee: 7
#3. Georgia: 6
#4. Texas: 5
#5. Colorado: 4
#13. Ukraine
Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since October
Colorado: 4
National: 809
Top states
#1. Washington: 243
#2. California: 159
#3. Pennsylvania: 50
#4. Missouri: 42
#5. Ohio: 38
#14. Moldova
Refugees that arrived from Moldova since October
Colorado: 2
National: 130
Top states
#1. California: 43
#2. Washington: 30
#3. Florida: 12
#4. North Carolina: 9
#5. South Carolina: 6
#15. Rwanda
Refugees that arrived from Rwanda since October
Colorado: 1
National: 66
Top states
#1. Texas: 18
#2. Idaho: 11
#3. Kentucky: 8
#4. Oregon: 7
#5. New York: 6
#16. Eritrea
Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October
Colorado: 1
National: 102
Top states
#1. Iowa: 14
#2. Minnesota: 10
#3. Arizona: 10
#4. Maryland: 9
#5. Ohio: 9
#17. Djibouti
Refugees that arrived from Djibouti since October
Colorado: 1
National: 1
Top states
#1. Colorado: 1
#18. Central African Republic
Refugees that arrived from Central African Republic since October
Colorado: 1
National: 41
Top states
#1. North Carolina: 10
#2. Arizona: 9
#3. Utah: 8
#4. Georgia: 7
#5. California: 5
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