Where and how do refugees settle?

My last post shed light on the volume of incoming refugees, and people who have applied for asylum. A very small percentage of them actually end up being refugees incoming countries have a limit on the number of refugees they can take. For example, USA's limit for 2022 was 125,000 [source] while 250,000 people applied for asylum that year. These refugees settle in many different states - the top ones being Texas, Washington, Ohio, California and New York.


https://immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-u-s-refugee-resettlement/ 
Source: https://immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-u-s-refugee-resettlement/
 
In June 2022, I had attended a webinar hosted by the Newark Library highlighting the struggles that refugees and local organizations face when trying to settle Afghan refugees that were displaced when the Afghan war ended. They Bay Area local organizations were equipped to resettle ~70 refugees every 6 months. This number aligns with the graph above - if CA sees about ~1400 refugees per year, that is ~700 every 6 months - and Bay Area being one of the large regions in CA is expected to see one-tenth of that. 
 
But in 2021 and 2022, Bay Area saw a stream of about ~70 per month due to several international conflicts. These refugees get public benefits for 90 days and by that time, they have to find a job, house, car, and learn to drive. Sometimes, the public funding is stuck in political mire making life very hard for families who have never known a life without conflict. 

Many of these families are dependent on local food banks for help. If you can, please consider donating to one of these local places.
 

Please comment below for any suggestions you may have.

 

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