The current US administration aims to resettle 125,000 refugees in fiscal year 2022, up from 62,500 in fiscal year 2021, doubling the number of refugees allowed to resettle in the United States. The 2022 refugee amount is a 733% increase in the number of allowed refugees up from a historic low of 15,000 during the prior administration. In 2021, the United States welcomed refugees from 50 countries, with the majority arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Myanmar.
The administration memorandum outlines the current administration’s fiscal year 2022 plans to distribute 40,000 refugee spots for Africa, 35,000 for Near East and South Asia, 15,000 for East Asia, 15,000 for Latin America and the Caribbean, 10,000 for Europe and Central Asia, and 10,000 unallocated. A recently passed Congressional spending bill allotted $7 billion to the care and resettlement of Afghan refugees, after the 20-year end of the US-led ware in Afghanistan forced Afghans to flee.
The overall amount of newly arriving refugees in the country impacts the number of refugees arriving in Washington state. Given the current situation, this can be a call for action for initiatives to increase health and well-being within the local refugee community, particularly among the Washington Afghan community.