Fact check: How many lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylum grants, and nonimmigrant admissions were recorded in fiscal years 2021–2024?

Executive Summary — Quick Answer Up Front: The assembled sources show that the United States counted roughly 12.8 million lawful permanent residents (LPRs) as of January 1, 2024, with about 1.17 million persons obtaining LPR status in FY2023, and that the U.S. admitted roughly 100,000 refugees in FY2024; meanwhile nonimmigrant admissions surged to about 132 million total admissions (68 million I‑94 admissions) in 2023, creating a picture of rising mobility but uneven coverage across fiscal years 2021–2024 ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}. These sources supply solid counts for 2023–2024 but do not provide consistent, directly comparable annual totals for FY2021 and FY2022 across all four categories, leaving a gap if you need a complete year‑by‑year tabulation for 2021–2024 in a single table ^{[5] [6]}.

1. How Many Lawful Permanent Residents? A Growing Stock, With 2024 as the Snapshot: The statistical reports converge on an estimated stock of 12.8 million LPRs in the United States on January 1, 2024, an increase of about 70,000 from the revised 2023 estimate; this is a population‑level count rather than an annual flow and reflects cumulative past admissions and demographic change ^[1]. For flows, the detailed tabulations show 1,172,910 persons obtained LPR status in fiscal year 2023, a 15% rise over 2022, with more than half of new LPRs already in the United States when they adjusted status; family‑sponsored immigrants represented 64% of that new cohort and employment‑based preferences 17% ^{[2] [5]}. These figures demonstrate both a rising LPR population and a significant in‑country adjustment component driving annual counts, but the sources do not list a separate, directly comparable FY2021 or FY2022 flow total in the same tabulation provided here, so reconstructing a full 2021–2024 flow series would require combining multiple technical tables ^{[2] [5]}.

2. Refugee Admissions: A Marked Increase in 2024, But Policy Uncertainty Looms: The refugee flow reporting indicates the U.S. admitted about 100,000 refugees in FY2024, split between roughly 37,050 principals and 63,000 derivatives, and identifies leading nationalities such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and Syria ^[3]. Multiple accounts characterize FY2024 as “one of the strongest years” for resettlement — a notable rise aligned with the Biden administration’s raised ceiling of 125,000 refugees for fiscal years 2022–2024 — yet contemporaneous reporting also notes administrative actions and holds that have introduced uncertainty into future admissions ^{[7] [8]}. These sources collectively show a high 2024 intake constrained by policy choices; they provide firm counts for 2024 but do not offer a full annualized breakdown for 2021–2023 in this set, so direct year‑to‑year comparison across 2021–2024 is incomplete here ^{[3] [8]}.

3. Nonimmigrant Admissions: Post‑Pandemic Rebound and Big Volumes in 2023: The Department of Homeland Security reporting cited here records approximately 132 million total nonimmigrant admissions in 2023, including about 68 million I‑94 admissions, with a 52% increase from 2022 driven largely by temporary visitors for pleasure, which accounted for about 78% of I‑94 admissions ^[4]. The fact sheet emphasizes a post‑pandemic resurgence in short‑term travel and business movement, meaning 2023 represents a rebound year rather than a steady annual trend across 2021–2024, and the admission events metric differs from unique individuals, complicating direct comparisons with LPR and refugee flow counts ^{[4] [6]}. The provided materials do not list the FY2024 nonimmigrant admission totals in this extract, so while 2023 shows a sharp rebound, the 2024 figure is not present in these excerpts and would require the 2024 admissions report to complete the series ^[4].

4. What’s Missing: The 2021–2022 Gap and the Challenge of Apples‑to‑Oranges Metrics: The assembled analyses give authoritative snapshots for stock LPRs (Jan 1, 2024), LPR flows in FY2023, refugee admissions in FY2024, and nonimmigrant admission events in 2023, yet they do not deliver a single, consistent set of annual totals for all four categories covering FY2021, FY2022, FY2023, and FY2024; differences in measurement (stocks vs. flows; events vs. unique persons; principal vs. derivative refugees) complicate aggregation and direct comparison ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}. To produce a complete FY2021–FY2024 table, one must reconcile multiple DHS and State Department tables and define whether counts should reflect events or unique individuals and whether derivatives are included, decisions that materially change totals ^{[6] [7]}.

5. Bottom Line and Next Steps for a Complete Year‑by‑Year Count: Based on the available extracts, you can state with confidence that 12.8 million LPRs existed as of Jan 1, 2024; ~1.17 million persons obtained LPR status in FY2023; ~100,000 refugees were admitted in FY2024; and ~132 million nonimmigrant admission events occurred in 2023 ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}. To produce a rigorous, fully comparable FY2021–FY2024 table for LPRs, refugees, asylum grants, and nonimmigrant admissions, the next step is to obtain the formal DHS and State Department annual flow reports for each fiscal year 2021–2024 and decide on harmonized definitions (stocks vs. flows, events vs. individuals, inclusion of derivatives), after which the numbers can be reconciled into a single year‑by‑year series.