Another indicator that there may be conflict between the city of Houston and the state of Texas regarding refugee settlement.
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According to U.N. data, between 2010 and 2014, the U.S. alone resettled 71 percent of all refugees.
Out of every 1,000 resettled U.N. refugees, more than 700 come to America. Though all 50 states accept some refugees, 75 of those 700 find their way to Texas, according to U.S. State Department numbers. And more of those will come to the Houston area than to anywhere else in Texas: The state health services department reports that nearly 40 30 percent of Texas' refugees land in Harris County.
This means that Harris County alone welcomes about 30 of every 1,000 refugees that the U.N. resettles anywhere in the world — more than any other American city, and more than most other nations. If Houston were a country, it would rank fourth in the world for refugee resettlement.
A trend stands out in Harris County refugee data. The vast majority of Houston's refugees came from warm climates: Cuba, Iraq, Congo and Somalia. But the resettlement agencies don't place people based on a preference for a hot, steamy climate.
. . . Houston has been a major resettlement area for Vietnamese refugees and immigrants since the fall of South Vietnam in 1975. But since then, the city's heavy in-flow of refugees has been defined by the absence of a predominant nationality.
"Oh, Houston is diverse," Al Sudani said, ticking off major refugee communities: "Bosnians, Russian Jews, Afghanis, Iraqis, Congolese, Rwandese, Somalis, Iranian minorities, Burmese, Bhutanese." Harris County welcomed refugees from 40 different countries in fiscal year 2014, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
For more:
- Immigrants from around the world are transforming Houston.
