Where refugees in Kentucky are arriving from

During the past five decades, the U.S. has resettled over 3 million refugees, making it one of the leading countries for finding new homes for people fleeing violence, persecution, and war.

In 2021, then-President Donald Trump lowered the annual cap of refugees that could be admitted into the country to 15,000. Even as the Biden administration has raised the ceiling to 125,000, the annual number of refugees arriving in the U.S. didn’t immediately bounce back to pre-Trump administration levels. The numbers are increasing though, with over 25,000 refugees arriving in the U.S. in 2022, twice the 2021 total.

Refugee arrivals in 2023 are on track to outpace the two previous years, with over 44,000 refugees arriving since January.

In August 2023, the greatest number of refugees admitted by the U.S. came from Syria, Congo, and Afghanistan. Each nation faces a unique set of circumstances that can make their citizens unsafe if they stay in their home country.

For the last three decades, Congo, also called the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been struggling with a series of civil wars and internal battles that have left millions of people displaced, both internally and externally, with many people fleeing to neighboring countries. Syria has seen more than 5 million refugees flee to neighboring nations since 2011 while a longstanding civil war rages, with an additional 6.8 million people forced from their homes and seeking refuge elsewhere in the country. Afghan refugees have been fleeing to neighboring countries for decades, especially to Pakistan and Iran, which combined host over 8 million Afghans.

Stacker referenced data from The Refugee Processing Center to compile statistics on the number of refugees and their countries of origin resettled in Kentucky in August 2023.

August refugee statistics
Countries where refugees arrived from in August
To Kentucky:
#1. Congo: 79
#2. Syria: 25
#3. Burma: 21
#4. Somalia: 6
#4. Venezuela: 6
#6. Afghanistan: 5
#6. Honduras: 5
#8. Guatemala: 2
#9. Burundi: 1
#9. Eritrea: 1
#9. Iraq: 1

To the U.S. as a whole:
#1. Syria: 1,429
#2. Congo: 1,085
#3. Afghanistan: 710
#4. Burma: 479
#5. Guatemala: 292

States that accepted the most refugees in August:
#1. California: 562
#2. Texas: 422
#3. New York: 384
#4. Illinois: 283
#5. North Carolina: 274

Read on to see the countries that Kentucky has accepted the most refugees from since October 2022.

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#1. Congo

Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2022
To Kentucky: 1,542

To the U.S. as a whole: 15,675
Top states receiving refugees from Congo
#1. Texas: 1,551
#2. Kentucky: 1,542
#3. Ohio: 1,173
#4. Arizona: 1,021
#5. New York: 821

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#2. Syria

Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2022
To Kentucky: 226

To the U.S. as a whole: 8,238
Top states receiving refugees from Syria
#1. Michigan: 810
#2. New York: 645
#3. Texas: 594
#4. Pennsylvania: 557
#5. California: 541

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#3. Burma

Refugees that arrived from Burma since October 2022
To Kentucky: 177

To the U.S. as a whole: 5,717
Top states receiving refugees from Burma
#1. Wisconsin: 637
#2. Texas: 598
#3. Indiana: 580
#4. New York: 523
#5. Illinois: 484

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#4. Afghanistan

Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October 2022
To Kentucky: 57

To the U.S. as a whole: 5,725
Top states receiving refugees from Afghanistan
#1. California: 1,105
#2. Texas: 623
#3. Virginia: 614
#4. New York: 364
#5. Washington: 341

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#5. Colombia

Refugees that arrived from Colombia since October 2022
To Kentucky: 40

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,085
Top states receiving refugees from Colombia
#1. New York: 126
#2. Florida: 119
#3. North Carolina: 108
#4. New Jersey: 85
#5. Pennsylvania: 75

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#5. Ukraine

Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since October 2022
To Kentucky: 40

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,303
Top states receiving refugees from Ukraine
#1. Washington: 412
#2. California: 241
#3. New York: 95
#4. Ohio: 72
#5. Pennsylvania: 61

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#7. Guatemala

Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2022
To Kentucky: 34

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,563
Top states receiving refugees from Guatemala
#1. California: 219
#2. Florida: 139
#3. Pennsylvania: 109
#4. North Carolina: 97
#5. New York: 87

Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock

#8. Sudan

Refugees that arrived from Sudan since October 2022
To Kentucky: 30

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,505
Top states receiving refugees from Sudan
#1. Ohio: 116
#2. Illinois: 99
#3. Georgia: 96
#4. New York: 85
#5. Nebraska: 79

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#9. Honduras

Refugees that arrived from Honduras since October 2022
To Kentucky: 25

To the U.S. as a whole: 547
Top states receiving refugees from Honduras
#1. Florida: 72
#2. Texas: 71
#3. North Carolina: 42
#4. Maryland: 31
#4. Massachusetts: 31

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#10. Somalia

Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October 2022
To Kentucky: 20

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,034
Top states receiving refugees from Somalia
#1. Minnesota: 330
#2. Ohio: 88
#3. Arizona: 58
#4. Washington: 51
#5. New York: 44

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#11. Iraq

Refugees that arrived from Iraq since October 2022
To Kentucky: 19

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,061
Top states receiving refugees from Iraq
#1. Michigan: 146
#2. California: 142
#3. Texas: 126
#4. Washington: 65
#5. Illinois: 63

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#12. Venezuela

Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2022
To Kentucky: 16

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,129
Top states receiving refugees from Venezuela
#1. Florida: 236
#2. Texas: 131
#3. Pennsylvania: 62
#4. North Carolina: 53
#5. Colorado: 51

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#13. Burundi

Refugees that arrived from Burundi since October 2022
To Kentucky: 14

To the U.S. as a whole: 272
Top states receiving refugees from Burundi
#1. Iowa: 38
#2. Texas: 32
#3. Pennsylvania: 23
#4. Missouri: 21
#5. Michigan: 15

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#13. Republic of South Sudan

Refugees that arrived from Republic of South Sudan since October 2022
To Kentucky: 14

To the U.S. as a whole: 455
Top states receiving refugees from Republic of South Sudan
#1. New York: 49
#2. North Carolina: 32
#3. Maryland: 30
#4. Minnesota: 28
#4. Washington: 28

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#15. El Salvador

Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since October 2022
To Kentucky: 12

To the U.S. as a whole: 957
Top states receiving refugees from El Salvador
#1. California: 96
#2. Texas: 95
#3. North Carolina: 87
#4. New York: 82
#5. Maryland: 81

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#16. Central African Republic

Refugees that arrived from Central African Republic since October 2022
To Kentucky: 8

To the U.S. as a whole: 597
Top states receiving refugees from Central African Republic
#1. Texas: 92
#2. Colorado: 52
#3. Georgia: 40
#4. Arizona: 39
#5. Oregon: 37

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#17. Eritrea

Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October 2022
To Kentucky: 7

To the U.S. as a whole: 867
Top states receiving refugees from Eritrea
#1. Ohio: 81
#2. Washington: 73
#3. Texas: 65
#4. Colorado: 48
#5. New York: 46

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#18. Bhutan

Refugees that arrived from Bhutan since October 2022
To Kentucky: 4

To the U.S. as a whole: 17
Top states receiving refugees from Bhutan
#1. Ohio: 6
#2. Kentucky: 4
#2. Michigan: 4
#4. Massachusetts: 2
#5. Missouri: 1

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#19. Indonesia

Refugees that arrived from Indonesia since October 2022
To Kentucky: 3

To the U.S. as a whole: 5
Top states receiving refugees from Indonesia
#1. Kentucky: 3
#2. Arizona: 1
#2. New York: 1

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#19. Pakistan

Refugees that arrived from Pakistan since October 2022
To Kentucky: 3

To the U.S. as a whole: 391
Top states receiving refugees from Pakistan
#1. Pennsylvania: 56
#2. New York: 43
#3. Virginia: 40
#4. California: 38
#5. Georgia: 35

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#21. Guinea

Refugees that arrived from Guinea since October 2022
To Kentucky: 2

To the U.S. as a whole: 23
Top states receiving refugees from Guinea
#1. Illinois: 11
#2. Pennsylvania: 3
#3. Kentucky: 2
#3. Massachusetts: 2
#3. Ohio: 2

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#22. Iran

Refugees that arrived from Iran since October 2022
To Kentucky: 1

To the U.S. as a whole: 675
Top states receiving refugees from Iran
#1. Texas: 150
#2. California: 145
#3. Washington: 75
#4. Georgia: 43
#5. Nevada: 27

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#22. Haiti

Refugees that arrived from Haiti since October 2022
To Kentucky: 1

To the U.S. as a whole: 32
Top states receiving refugees from Haiti
#1. New York: 5
#1. Ohio: 5
#3. Colorado: 4
#3. Pennsylvania: 4
#5. California: 3

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#22. Benin

Refugees that arrived from Benin since October 2022
To Kentucky: 1

To the U.S. as a whole: 1
Top states receiving refugees from Benin
#1. Kentucky: 1

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#22. Egypt

Refugees that arrived from Egypt since October 2022
To Kentucky: 1

To the U.S. as a whole: 5
Top states receiving refugees from Egypt
#1. New York: 2
#2. Illinois: 1
#2. Kentucky: 1
#2. Nevada: 1

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#22. Cameroon

Refugees that arrived from Cameroon since October 2022
To Kentucky: 1

To the U.S. as a whole: 29
Top states receiving refugees from Cameroon
#1. New Mexico: 8
#2. Michigan: 4
#3. Illinois: 3
#3. Nevada: 3
#5. Colorado: 2

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#22. Yemen

Refugees that arrived from Yemen since October 2022
To Kentucky: 1

To the U.S. as a whole: 158
Top states receiving refugees from Yemen
#1. Michigan: 21
#1. New York: 21
#3. Illinois: 17
#4. Virginia: 15
#4. North Carolina: 15