Where refugees in Texas are arriving from

Migrants stand in line outside the Holding Institute shelter in Laredo, Texas, U.S., on Saturday, May 15, 2021. President Joe Biden sought to ease tensions with his political allies by quadrupling the limit on the number of refugees who can enter the
TEXAS – In the last 50 years, the United States has resettled more than three million refugees. Those fleeing violence, persecution and war are more likely to come to the United States.
The number of refugees admitted into the country per year is proposed by the president and requires congressional approval. After the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush suspended refugee admissions for several months due to national security concerns. From 2001 to 2015, caps on refugee admissions stayed between 70,000 and 80,000.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, in 2016, President Obama increased an earlier approved ceiling of 80,000 to allow in an additional 5,000 refugees as part of an effort to address a growing migration crisis caused by worsening conflict in Syria. Then in 2017, Obama proposed the U.S. set a ceiling of 110,000 refugee admissions. 
President Trump reversed Obama’s proposed ceiling by capping the number of refugees allowed into the country in FY2017 at 50,000. He lowered this ceiling further to 45,000 for 2018, then 30,000 for 2019, and 18,000 for 2020. His administration argued that the reduction was necessary to direct more government resources to the backlog of applications from nearly 800,000 asylum seekers who had reached the southern U.S. border.  Trump lowered the ceiling again to 15,000 for FY2021.
In May 2021, President Biden revised Trump’s annual admissions cap to 62,500 for the remainder of the year, and in October, he doubled the ceiling for FY 2022 to 125,000. Biden maintained the 125,000 cap for FY 2023 and FY 2024, with the majority of 2024 admission slots allocated for refugees from Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.
In September 2024, the greatest number of refugees admitted by the U.S. came from Venezeula, Afghanistan, and Congo. Each nation faces a unique set of circumstances that can make their citizens unsafe if they stay in their home country.
Here are the numbers of refugees and their countries of origin resettled in Texas in September 2024, according to the Refugee Processing Center.
Venezuela – Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2023 
Congo – Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2023 
Afghanistan – Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October 2023 
Myanmar – Refugees that arrived from Myanmar since October 2023 
Syria – Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2023 
Guatemala – Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2023 
Nicaragua – Refugees that arrived from Nicaragua since October 2023 
Eritrea – Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October 2023 
Iraq – Refugees that arrived from Iraq since October 2023 
Somalia – Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October 2023 
Top states receiving refugees from Venezuela
Top states receiving refugees from Congo
Top states receiving refugees from Afghanistan
Top states receiving refugees from Myanmar
Top states receiving refugees from Syria
Top states receiving refugees from Guatemala
Top states receiving refugees from Nicaragua
Top states receiving refugees from Eritrea
Top states receiving refugees from Iraq
Top states receiving refugees from Somalia
Information in this article is from the Refugee Processing Center, Refugee arrivals by state and nationality. The report provides information on the number of refugees resettled in each U.S. state for the current fiscal year, as broken down by primary applicant nationality and by month of admission.