Refugee Resettlement in the United States
As defined by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a refugee is someone who has fled from his or her home country and cannot return because he or she has a well-founded fear of persecution based on religion, race, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. People commonly misunderstand how refugees are different from other migrating populations. They are a group defined and protected under international law because the situation in their home country makes it impossible for them to return. They require international protection because they are not provided protection by their country of origin (United Nations). Refugees are different from migrants, who often voluntarily leave their country of origin in search of better economic opportunities. Refugees have no choice but to flee for fear of their lives.
The United States has played a significant role in resettling refugees around the world. Since 1975 the United States has accepted more than 3.3 million refugees for permanent resettlement (U.S. Department of State). Although the current international refugee crisis is believed to be the worst since World War II,the number of refugees resettled in the U.S. has decreased each year in efforts to increase national security.Only 22,491 refugees were resettled in the 2018 fiscal year, which is the lowest number of refugees to be resettled since the foundation of the United States Refugee Resettlement Program (Rush). The chart below from the Migration Policy Institute illustrates the annual ceiling set by the government in correlation with the number of refugees resettled from 1980-2018.