Refugee Resettlement: Overview

Introduction

The United States has a long history of accepting refugees who flee from violence and persecution across the globe. Since 1975, the United States has welcomed more than three million refugees into all fifty states. But after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as well as later instances of international terrorism, some Americans—citizens and politicians alike—became increasingly skeptical about letting newcomers settle in the country. Government leaders struggled to balance humanitarian and national security concerns in a circumstance where conducting effective background checks can be difficult.

In the 2010s there was a further wave of anti-refugee backlash, as the Syrian Civil War and other conflicts drove a major wave of both refugees and economic migrants to the European Union (EU) and elsewhere, leading many to express concerns about potential economic and social costs of resettlement. In the US this nationalist sentiment was encapsulated by the administration of President Donald Trump, who sought to sharply restrict refugee intake. Conflict in Afghanistan and Ukraine in the early 2020s brought further public attention to the issue of refugee resettlement, and observers continued to debate the pros and cons of the practice.

Understanding the Discussion

Asylum seeker: A person seeking refugee status whose claims of persecution have yet to be evaluated.

Internally displaced person (IDP): A person who is forced to leave their home or community, but not their entire country, due to violence or persecution.

Refugee: A person who seeks to relocate to another country because of violence or persecution in their home country.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): The United Nations agency responsible for tracking and supporting internally displaced persons, refugees, and asylum seekers throughout the world.

History

The United States is a nation of immigrants with a long history of accepting refugees fleeing dangerous situations around the world, particularly following the codification of an official resettlement program through the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980. From 1975—when an influx of Vietnamese refugees seeking resettlement prompted this comprehensive, standardized legislation—to the early 2020s, more than three million refugees resettled in the United States, across all fifty states. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that more than 26 million people worldwide were considered refugees as of mid-2021, while another 48 million were internally displaced (forced to leave their homes but not their country). An additional 4.4 million were considered asylum seekers.

Many refugees want to return to their home countries when conditions are safe again. But the UNHCR notes that because of the increasing instances of long, drawn-out conflicts in the early twenty-first century, return rates have dropped dramatically. For example, only around 251,000 refugees returned home in 2020.

To further complicate the matter, many refugees are forced to flee to countries that lack the infrastructure to support such a sudden population growth, particularly over an extended period of time. The UNHCR reported that in mid-2021, developing countries were hosting about 86 percent of the world's refugees. The organization encouraged developed nations like the United States to help by allowing more refugees to resettle within their borders.

The process of being granted refugee status in the United States requires several steps. First, refugees can only be admitted from outside the United States; those who are already in the country, or who arrive at a point of entry such as an airport without prior authorization, are considered asylum seekers (for whom the admission process is quite different).

To be admitted as a refugee, an individual and their family must be referred to the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) by the UNHCR or an authorized nongovernmental organization. Potential refugees complete applications and are interviewed abroad by officers of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services department, who determine their eligibility. Approved refugees receive medical exams to ensure they will not bring communicable diseases into the country, cultural orientation to help ease the transition to a new environment, and assistance with travel plans to their final destination. Some refugees may also be eligible for medical and cash assistance upon arrival to the United States. Refugees also receive immediate authorization to work in the United States and may receive assistance to find a job. Individuals can also petition to bring certain members of their families—generally limited to spouses and unmarried children under the age of twenty-one—to the United States.

A major refugee crisis of the early twenty-first century was generated by the Syrian Civil War, which began in March 2011 following antigovernment demonstrations against the Assad regime. By 2021, the UNHCR estimated that about 6.7 million people had been internally displaced within Syria, while some 5.6 million more had fled across the borders to relative safety in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt. Thousands more risked their lives to flee to Greece and the rest of Europe via the Mediterranean Sea. Yet even those who reached their destinations alive often found little in the way of support in their new surroundings. Some countries have set up camps for refugees (whether from Syria or elsewhere), hoping to provide key services while preventing strain on the resources and economies of nearby communities. However, services in such camps are typically limited and influxes of large number of refugees can cause severe problems, such as water shortages and the spread of diseases like cholera. In 2024 the Assad family’s rule over Syria was overthrown, ending the war in a victory for Syrians who rebelled against the regime.

The United States is one of the developed nations that actively participates in the UN's efforts to resettle refugees. However, the arrival of refugees from Syria in particular sparked a political firestorm centered on issues of national security. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and subsequent "war on terror" made some Americans distrustful of immigrants from Middle Eastern countries, due to widespread stereotypes about Muslims and terrorism. The discovery that one of the perpetrators of the deadly Paris attacks in November 2015 had a Syrian passport (although it was ultimately believed that he was not actually a Syrian refugee, but just pretending to be one using forged paperwork) only deepened that distrust. Critics expressed concern that, at the least, there is a risk of possible exploitation of the refugee system by extremists intending to do harm.

In late 2015 the administration of US president Barack Obama announced its intention to accept ten thousand Syrian refugees over a two-year period starting in 2016. However, governors from thirty-one states across the country publicly declared their refusal to allow refugees to settle within their state. Ultimately, the decision on whether to admit specific refugees to the United States and where to resettle them is legally not made by state governments. However, states may be able to block refugees' access to state social services and other important resources, thereby making it logistically impossible to resettle in those locations.

In November 2015 the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit on behalf of the resettlement agency working with a Syrian family that was heading to Indiana but rerouted to Connecticut after the Indiana governor ordered state agencies to cut off their resettlement assistance. That same month, Republicans in Congress backed a bill called the American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act of 2015, designed to make the screening process more stringent for refugees arriving from Syria and Iraq. Among the bill's proposed provisions were a requirement that the FBI certify to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) that each prospective refugee has received a background investigation "sufficient to determine whether the alien is a US security threat" and that individuals would only be admitted to the United States DHS, FBI, and DNI certification to Congress. While the bill passed the House, it was blocked in the Senate in early 2016, with critics arguing that it would place an undue burden on refugees and also strain government resources.

The refugee situation in the United States drew further attention after the inauguration of President Donald Trump in 2017, as he made opposition to virtually all forms of immigration a major part of his platform. Trump almost immediately issued two executive orders banning people from several predominantly Muslim countries, including Syria, from entering the United States for any reason. The second order also capped the number of refugees the United States would accept that year at 50,000, the lowest it had been since 1980. While implementation of the bans was put on hold for several months as they were challenged in the courts, in June the Supreme Court announced that some portions of the second ban could take effect while they considered the merits of the orders. Refugee resettlement was temporarily suspended until it could be reviewed and enhanced vetting procedures introduced.

The following year Trump lowered the limit still further, to 45,000. Resettlement agencies said a limit of 75,000 would be the minimum needed to meet humanitarian needs. Ultimately, only about 22,415 refugees were admitted to the US in 2018. The number of refugees admitted from the Near East and South Asia, the region that includes Syria, dropped from 33,555 in 2016 to one-tenth of that number in 2018. In 2019 the cap was set at a new all-time low of 30,000 people before being lowered again in September for the coming fiscal year, to just 18,000.

Late in 2019, the Trump administration made an additional attempt to increase the ability to limit refugee resettlement in the country, this time at the state level, by issuing an executive order requiring the written consent of the local and state governments considered for resettlement. Resettlement advocates considered this order to be unlawful as it allowed state and local authorities to veto resettlement, a power contradictory to the federal refugee law that only required state consultation. After a court challenge, the order was halted by an injunction in early 2020 that was upheld against appeal by early 2021. In the meantime, in late 2020 the refugee admission cap was brought to its lowest number since 1980, with the Trump administration setting it at 15,000.

Refugee Resettlement Today

After President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, he quickly issued executive orders reversing the Trump administration's immigration policies. These included raising that fiscal year's refugee cap in May 2021 to 62,500, However, the Biden administration noted that a rebound in resettlement numbers would take time. The logistical and travel complications of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic declared in early 2020 also continued to affect resettlement procedures.

Debates around refugee resettlement came to the fore once again after the Taliban extremist organization retook control of Afghanistan in August 2021. Thousands of Afghans were evacuated and many began the resettlement process, including some seeking entry to the United States. Some Americans remained wary of such admittance, while others argued that the US had a particular responsibility to Afghan refugees due to its part in the lengthy war in Afghanistan. Regardless, the influx of refugees prompted further discussion of resettlement capabilities as US resettlement agencies were overwhelmed with housing and processing challenges. Additionally, the large-scale invocation of humanitarian parole—a swifter process that allowed Afghans without visas to safely arrive and stay at least temporarily in the United States with limited benefits—sparked questions about the overall procedural formalities of resettlement. There was also concern that some Afghans who had not been able to secure visas previously but had US affiliations would be left out of resettlement options; the Biden administration created a new category to expand resettlement access through the refugee program to more Afghans.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022 created another significant wave of refugees, as many Ukrainians fled the violence. Though European countries bore the brunt of this wave, the United States did contribute to resettlement efforts. In late March President Biden announced that as many as 100,000 Ukrainian refugees would be accepted and $1 billion would be donated to refugee humanitarian programs in Europe. However, some refugee advocates noted that it remained difficult for many Ukrainians to obtain entry to the United States and called on US authorities to hasten processing. At the same time, some observers pointed out that widespread public sympathy for Ukrainian refugees seemed to starkly contrast the more muted or even negative response to refugees from other countries, which they suggested might indicate underlying racial prejudice favoring White Europeans over people of color.

About the Author

Tracey M. DiLascio-Martinuk, Esq., is a small business and intellectual property attorney in Westborough, Massachusetts. Prior to establishing her practice, she taught writing and social science courses in Massachusetts and New Jersey colleges, and served as a judicial clerk in the New Jersey Superior Court. She is a graduate of Boston University School of Law.

These essays and any opinions, information, or representations contained therein are the creation of the particular author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of EBSCO Information Services.

Bibliography

Alvarez, Priscilla, and Maegan Vazquez. "Biden Raises Refugee Cap to 62,500 after Blowback." CNN, 3 May 2021, www.cnn.com/2021/05/03/politics/refugee-cap/index.html. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.

"An Overview of US Refugee Law and Policy." American Immigration Council, 20 Sept. 2021, www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/overview-us-refugee-law-and-policy. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.

"Biden Praises Regime Change in Syria after Rebels Capture Damascus." NBC News, 8 Dec. 2024, www.nbcnews.com/news/world/live-blog/syria-damascus-rebel-capture-rcna183344. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.

Czopek, Madison. "How US Immigration Policy Will Affect Ukrainian Refugees." Poynter, 13 Apr. 2022, www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2022/how-us-immigration-policies-will-affect-ukrainian-refugees/. Accessed 19 Apr. 2022.

Hirschfeld Davis, Julie, and Miriam Jordan. "Trump Plans 45,000 Limit on Refugees Admitted to U.S." The New York Times, 26 Sept. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/us/politics/trump-plans-45000-limit-on-refugees-admitted-to-us.html. Accessed 21 Mar. 2018.

Jordan, Miriam, et al. "United States Will Welcome Up to 100,000 Ukrainian Refugees." The New York Times, 25 Mar. 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/us/ukrainian-refugees-biden.html. Accessed 19 Apr. 2022.

Montoya-Galvez, Camilo, and Nicole Sganga. "US Humanitarian Tool to Admit At-Risk Afghans Who Don't Have Visas." CBS News, 25 Aug. 2021, www.cbsnews.com/news/afghanistan-refugees-evacuation-humanitarian-parole-visas/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.

"Quick Facts: What You Need to Know about the Syria Crisis." Mercy Corps, 5 Feb. 2016, www.mercycorps.org/blog/quick-facts-syria-crisis. Accessed 9 Feb. 2016.

"Refugee Admissions." Department of State, United States, www.state.gov/refugee-admissions/. Accessed 19 Apr. 2022.

"Refugee Data Finder." UNHCR, 10 Nov. 2021, www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/. Accessed 19 Apr. 2022.

"Refugees." United Nations, www.un.org/en/global-issues/refugees. Accessed 19 Apr. 2022.

"Refugees." US Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2 Mar. 2022, www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-and-asylum/refugees. Accessed 19 Apr. 2022.

Rose, Joel. "Advocates Challenge Trump Administration Plan to Let States and Towns Block Refugees." NPR, 21 Nov. 2019, www.npr.org/2019/11/21/781795867/advocates-challenge-trump-administration-plan-to-let-states-and-towns-block-refu. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.

"Syria Emergency." UNHCR, 15 Mar. 2021, www.unhcr.org/en-us/syria-emergency.html. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.

United States, Congress, House, Judiciary Committee. H.R. 4038—American Security against Foreign Enemies Act of 2015. Congress.gov, www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/4038. 114th Congress, passed 19 Nov. 2015.