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Fact check: What were the estimated costs of refugee resettlement programs in 2022 and 2023?
Executive Summary
The available analyses show conflicting and partial figures: one analysis reports that the U.S. government spent roughly $8.925 billion in FY2022 and $10.928 billion in FY2023 on migrant and refugee assistance combined, totaling about $20 billion across those two years [1], while other summaries reference proposed fee-rule budgets and multi-year projections but do not provide direct 2022–2023 resettlement cost totals [2] [3]. No single analysis here isolates a definitive “refugee resettlement program” cost for 2022 and 2023; the pieces must be read together and treated as overlapping budget lines and differing definitions of assistance [2] [1] [3].
1. Why the numbers diverge and what each figure actually covers
The dataset includes at least two distinct kinds of fiscal statements: a consolidated spending tally described as $8.925 billion (FY2022) and $10.928 billion (FY2023) covering “migrant and refugee assistance” broadly, and a proposed USCIS fee-rule budget entry listing $5.2 billion for FY2022/2023 that purportedly includes refugee-processing costs but does not disaggregate resettlement program spending [1] [2]. These differences reflect divergent definitions—one source tallies a wide set of humanitarian and immigration expenditures across agencies, while another references an agency fee schedule budget that blends service fees and processing costs. Comparing totals requires aligning definitions before treating them as equivalent [1] [2].
2. The largest cited total and what it implies about federal spending
The most headline-grabbing number in the analyses is the $20 billion combined figure for the two fiscal years (FY2022 and FY2023), split as $8.925 billion and $10.928 billion respectively, described as federal spending on “migrant and refugee assistance” [1]. If treated as an upper-bound estimate for refugee-related fiscal exposure, this suggests the federal government expanded humanitarian and immigration-related spending substantially across those years, although the figure likely includes border, enforcement, foreign aid, and domestic resettlement grants, not just core resettlement services. Policymakers and analysts should therefore treat the $20 billion as a broad programmatic envelope, not a clean line-item for resettlement operations [1].
3. The narrower USCIS/fee-rule budget and its limitations
One analysis cites a proposed FY2022/2023 Fee Rule Budget of $5.2 billion that purportedly includes costs for refugee processing, referenced in a USCIS FAQ on fee rules [2]. This $5.2 billion is not directly equivalent to total resettlement program costs because it is tied to administrative fee schedules and agency processing budgets rather than the full array of resettlement service delivery, housing, state/local grants, or international refugee assistance. Using the fee-rule figure as a surrogate for total resettlement costs risks undercounting programmatic expenditures administered by other agencies and NGOs [2].
4. Later reporting and projections that complicate trend interpretation
Subsequent analyses discuss expanded resettlement capacity and multi-year funding estimates—one piece notes estimated refugee-processing and resettlement funding as $2.8 billion (FY2024) and $5.1 billion (FY2025) tied to program expansion and new agencies, illustrating shifting budget baselines [3]. These later-year projections underscore that year-to-year comparisons are affected by policy changes, administrative actions, and new program additions, meaning 2022–2023 figures must be contextualized within evolving program expansions and administrative proposals rather than read as fixed historical baselines [3].
5. What the analyses omit and why that matters for precision
None of the provided analyses isolate a single authoritative line-item labeled “refugee resettlement program costs for 2022 and 2023” across federal accounts; instead, they present overlapping buckets—USCIS fee-rule budgets, aggregated migrant/refugee assistance across agencies, and later-year projections [2] [1] [3]. Key omissions include explicit breakdowns of domestic resettlement agency grants, state-level reception costs, NGO-led services, and international UN-related contributions—all of which can materially shift what is reported as “resettlement” spending versus broader migration assistance [1] [2].
6. How to reconcile these figures if you need a working estimate
A defensible approach uses the broadband federal tally as an upper bound—$8.925B (FY2022) and $10.928B (FY2023)—while recognizing a narrower agency-level budget like the $5.2B USCIS fee-rule represents only part of that spending universe [1] [2]. Analysts seeking precision should request or extract line-item expenditures for refugee and entrant assistance discretionary grants, refugee social services, Reception & Placement queues, and USCIS refugee processing separately, then reconcile across agencies and fiscal notes to avoid double-counting or omission [1] [2].
7. Bottom line for readers: what is known and what remains uncertain
The evidence here establishes that federal spending on migrant- and refugee-related assistance rose to roughly $20 billion across FY2022–FY2023, but it does not definitively quantify only refugee resettlement program costs for those years because of overlapping definitions and incomplete line-item breakdowns [1]. To convert these broad totals into a precise resettlement program cost requires agency-level budget extracts and clearer definitional boundaries, a task not completed in the supplied analyses and one that should be the next step for anyone needing a legally or administratively authoritative figure [1] [2] [3].