All Posts

I. Introduction: From Gateway State to Local Concentration In Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, New York ranked among the top refugee-receiving states in the United States, welcoming approximately 8,000 ~ 9,000 newly admitted refugees. Like California, statewide totals conceal a highly concentrated local pattern. Refugee resettlement in New York is shaped by long-standing urban hubs, particularly New York City and several upstate cities with decades of resettlement history. This article

I. Introduction: From State Leader to Local Landscape In Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, California remained the largest refugee-receiving state in the United States, welcoming just over 10,000 newly admitted refugees. Yet statewide totals tell only part of the story. Refugee protection in California is deeply localized: arrivals concentrate in specific counties and metropolitan areas where infrastructure, employment opportunities, and established diaspora communities already exist. T

I. The Evolution of a Domestic Mandate The American refugee resettlement infrastructure, while deeply rooted in the 1951 Refugee Convention, found its modern legislative life with the Refugee Act of 1980. This act transformed an ad hoc system into a formal federal program, setting a legal precedent that mirrors the UNHCR’s early humanitarian mandate. Just as the UNHCR began as a temporary response to European displacement, the U.S. program was designed to provide a systematic

Introduction Refugee protection in the United States is often discussed in federal terms: presidential admissions ceilings, international obligations, and national security screening. Yet the lived reality of refugee protection is profoundly local. Refugees are not resettled into an abstract nation-state but into specific states, cities, and communities, each with differing capacities, political climates, and social infrastructures. This article examines U.S. refugee resettle