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REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT: KEY CHANGES
Immigration policy has changed significantly in the U.S., leaving refugee newcomers living in uncertainty. What do different immigration terms mean? What legal pathways remain open? Get the answers and make sense of the latest headlines with this overview of refugee resettlement.
For decades, refugees and other newcomers fleeing violence have found safety in the U.S. through legal pathways. Right now, those legal pathways are in jeopardy as policy changes impact who can seek safety here as well as the status of newcomers who have already arrived through legal pathways but now face the possibility of detention and deportation.
Learn more below about refugee protections and temporary sponsorship programs—two legal pathways that have historically been available to individuals seeking safety here. Plus, get a breakdown of different immigration terms (such as asylum seeker, refugee, and humanitarian parolee) that you might hear in the news.
The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP)
Refugee status is a formal legal protection granted to people outside of the United States who have been displaced by war or persecution. Once thoroughly vetted and admitted, refugees hold permanent legal status in the U.S. with a clear pathway to citizenship.
How refugee resettlement used to work
Historically, the U.S. has operated the world’s largest resettlement program. Candidates are identified by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), undergo multi-year security vetting, and are resettled in U.S. communities with the support of nonprofit agencies.
What has changed since 2025
- Record low limits on refugee arrivals: The administration set a historic low refugee cap at 7,500 individuals for the 2026 fiscal year. Since the program’s inception in 1980, the U.S. has historically welcomed between 50,000 and 100,000+ refugees per year.
- Priority refugee status for Afrikaners: An executive order designated the limited available refugee slots primarily for Afrikaners from South Africa. Resettlement for most other global populations remains suspended.
- Program termination: The Welcome Corps, a program allowing private citizens to sponsor refugees, has been terminated and can no longer accept new applications.
- Refugees detained for re-vetting: Launched in January 2026, Operation PARRIS, or the "Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening" initiative, aims to detain and re-screen more than 200,000 refugees who have been in the U.S. for one year and have not yet obtained green cards. Refugees undergo years of background checks, interviews, biometric screening, and medical exams before they arrive in the U.S. Re-opening these cases creates fear and instability for families who thought they had reached a permanent and legal status that provided safety.
HUMANITARIAN PAROLE
Humanitarian parole is a discretionary "emergency" entry permit granted to a specific population overseas. Unlike refugee status, parole is temporary (usually 2 years) and does not lead to a green card (legal permanent residency) or citizenship. It requires a U.S.-based financial sponsor.
How humanitarian parole used to work
Parole was designed to allow the U.S. to respond quickly to international crises. Between 2022 and 2024, it was used extensively to provide legal entry for over 1 million people from Ukraine and four Western Hemisphere countries: Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Through the program, newcomers received work authorization and community support to temporarily resettle here.
What has changed since 2025
- Programs terminated: Sponsorship programs for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela were terminated in mid-2025. New applications are no longer accepted, and many current parolees are receiving notices that their status will not be renewed.
- Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) paused: New applications for Ukrainian sponsorship remain paused as of early 2025. Many Ukrainians who came to the U.S. legally are now stuck in limbo as they face hefty fees and long delays in paperwork processing for re-parole. Without re-parole, Ukrainian families may be forced to return to a war zone.
- Expanded travel bans: As of Jan. 21, 2026, the State Department has paused all immigrant visa processing for 75 countries, citing concerns regarding "public charge" (the potential for new arrivals to rely on public benefits). Now individuals from these countries who were seeking to immigrate to the U.S.—often after navigating a lengthy and complex legal process—will not receive visas while the policy remains in effect.
- Shortened work permits: To facilitate more frequent vetting, Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for many parolees have been reduced from five years to 18 months. This means newcomers pay expensive filing fees and deal with cumbersome processing more frequently, making it harder for them to stay employed.
Stay informed
Learn more about these statuses and processes
Refugee resettlement 101
In this section, we explore what it means to be a refugee, both the legal status and as a lived human experience. We'll examine how international protection systems work, what rights refugees hold, and how resettlement processes unfold.
Visit the refugee resettlement 101 siteHumanitarian parole 101
This section explains humanitarian parole, its purpose, and its operation. We also examine the legal framework behind parole, the eligibility criteria, and its implications for people navigating crises with few options and little time.
Visit the humanitarian parole 101 site
By the numbers
Click through the drop-down sections below to learn more about some of the numbers behind refugees and humanitarian parolees.
Refugees by the numbers
(as of October 4, 2024)
See the UNHCR’s website for more refugee statistics.
- There are over 47.7 million refugees in the world under UNHCR’s mandate.
- 71% are hosted in low- and middle-income countries.
- 69% are hosted in neighbouring countries.
- 3 million refugees have resettled in the United States since 1975.
- 65% of refugees worldwide originate from just four countries: Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine, and Afghanistan
- Iran, Turkey, Colombia, Germany, and Uganda host the most refugees (about 32% of all refugee populations).
Humanitarian parolees by the numbers
See IRAP’s website and NFAP’s brief for more humanitarian parole statistics.
- Since 2021, almost 1 million newcomers have been granted humanitarian parole status, coming from Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Ukraine, and Venezuela.
- Americans have welcomed newcomers in all 50 states across 12,000 zip codes.
- More than 2 million Americans raised their hands to serve as private community sponsors for refugee newcomers in need of safety.
Recent policy changes
For up-to-date information and expert guidance on recent changes to sponsorship pathways and our welcoming communities in 2025, visit our policy updates page.
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