Record numbers of Muslim refugees entered U.S. in 2016 says new study

As the nation and the White House wrestle with complex immigration issues, some numbers to consider, including the official total of refugees who arrived in U.S. in the last year, and how Americans feel about the phenomenon. Three states took on many refugees; two states had none. A record number of Muslims were among the new arrivals according to new research.

“The U.S. admitted 84,995 refugees in the fiscal year ending in September 2016, the most in any year during the Obama administration. An additional 31,143 refugees have been admitted to the U.S. from Oct. 1 through Jan. 24, including more than 1,136 refugee admissions since Donald Trump became president on Jan. 20,” note Pew Research Center analysts Jens Manuel Krogstad and Jynnah Radford, based on statistics from the U.S. State Department’s Refugee Processing Center, plus historical data.

“Nearly 39,000 Muslim refugees entered the U.S. in fiscal 2016, the highest number on record. Muslims made up nearly half (46 percent) of refugee admissions, a higher share than for Christians, who accounted for 44 percent of refugees admitted,” the analysis stated.

“The U.S. public has seldom approved of accepting large numbers of refugees. In October 2016, 54 percent of registered voters said the U.S. does not have a responsibility to accept refugees from Syria, while 41 percent said it does. There was a wide partisan gap on this measure, with 87 percent of Donald Trump supporters saying the U.S. doesn’t have a responsibility to accept Syrians, compared with only 27 percent of Hillary Clinton supporters who said the same. U.S. public opinion polls from previous decades show Americans have largely opposed admitting large numbers of refugees from countries where people are fleeing war and oppression,” the report said.

These days the highest number of refugees from any nation came from the Democratic Republic of Congo (16,370 refugees) followed by Syria (12,587), Burma (12,347), Iraq (9,880) and Somalia (9,020).

Where are the refugees now? California, Texas and New York resettled nearly a quarter of the new arrivals. Other states that received at least 3,000 refugees included Michigan, Ohio, Arizona, North Carolina, Washington, Pennsylvania and Illinois. By contrast, Arkansas, the District of Columbia and Wyoming each resettled fewer than 10 refugees. Delaware and Hawaii took in no refugees.