Syrian Refugees Have Been Resettled In 36 States, Most In CA,TX, MI

Since the start of the Syria’s civil war in the spring of 2011, the U.S. has admitted 2,311 Syrian refugees and resettled them in 36 different states.

According to data from the State Department’s Refugee Processing Center the top three destinations for Syrian refugees since the beginning of the conflict are California, Texas, and Michigan.

From March 15, 2011 through December 1, 2015, California received the most (261) Syrian refugees, Texas received the second most with 242, and Michigan has received the third most with 217.

Other states that have received Syrian refugees since March 2011 include: Arizona (182), Illinois (170), Pennsylvania (161), Florida (142), Kentucky (101), New Jersey (99), Ohio (89), Massachusetts (72), Georgia (69), North Carolina (56), New York (55), Connecticut (51), Maryland (43), Tennessee (42), Indiana (39), Washington (38), Idaho (37), Missouri (29), Virginia (26), Colorado (18), Louisiana (14), Utah (12), Kansas (8), Nevada (8), Minnesota (7), New Mexico (6), Oregon (6),New Hampshire (3), Oklahoma (3), Wisconsin (2), Arkansas (1), Maine (1), and West Virginia (1).

The Obama administration plans to resettle at least 10,000 Syrian refugees into the U.S. by the end of fiscal year 2016, which started in October. As of Tuesday the Obama administration has resettled 438 Syrian refugees in the U.S. this fiscal year. The top receiving states this fiscal year has been California (53), Arizona (42), Pennsylvania (40), Kentucky (38), Ohio (37), Texas (35), Florida (31), and Michigan (30).

The resettlement of Syrian refugees in the U.S. has been under increased scrutiny following the November 13 Islamic State terrorist attacks in Paris. In addition to the concerns voiced by top officials about the lack of data to fully vet the refugees coming to the U.S., at least two of the terrorists gained access to Europe by posing as Syrian refugees.

In the aftermath of the Paris attacks a majority of the nation’s governors expressed opposition to or outrightly said they would refuse Syrian refugee resettlement in their states. Despite opposition, as of November 17 some of the refugees have been settled in states whose governors opposed the action.

Such states include Florida (19), Arizona (14), Georgia (3), Idaho (1), Illinois (6), Maryland (4), Michigan (10), New Jersey (11), and Ohio (7).

Monday CNS News reported that the vast majority of Syrian refugees that have been resettled in the U.S. are Sunni Muslim and very few are Christians or other religious minorities.