Exploring Refugees' Experiences with Discrimination in the United States

Background and Purpose: Discrimination against refugees is a major challenge that can impact different dimensions of their well-being and integration. However, until recently, there was no nationally representative data on refugees’ experiences with discrimination in the United States (US). With the addition of questions about discrimination into more recent waves of the Annual Survey of Refugees (ASR), the only nationally representative dataset on refugees’ experiences in the US, we can explore the factors that predict refugees’ experiences with discrimination across the country as well as how discrimination influences other outcomes, such as physical, mental, and economic well-being.

Methods: This study uses data from the 2021 and 2022 waves of the ASR (N₂₀₂₁ = 5,912; N₂₀₂₂ = 5,608), which is funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement and carried out by the Urban Institute and SSRS. Descriptive analyses were used to explore rates of experiencing discrimination in different situations, followed by bivariate analyses to test the associations between experiencing discrimination and various demographic and well-being related factors. Regression analyses were used to explore predictors of discrimination experiences as well as whether discrimination predicts physical, mental, and economic well-being when controlling for other potentially contributing factors.

Results: The 2021 and 2022 waves of the ASR revealed similar rates of experiencing discrimination (23.51% and 22.46%, respectively). In both waves, refugees were most likely to experience discrimination at work or when applying for a job, on the street, and in local businesses. Results indicated significant associations between discrimination and various factors, including the region refugees were first resettled in, their age, sex, race, ethnicity, literacy in their native language, and how well they speak English. Experiencing discrimination was also associated with worse mental health and social and economic well-being, but it was only associated with worse physical health in the 2022 wave.

Ethnicity emerged as a predictor of experiencing discrimination across both waves, such that refugees belonging to certain ethnic groups had higher odds of experiencing discrimination than others. Although findings across the 2021 and 2022 waves varied, discrimination predicted health, economic, and social outcomes even when controlling for sex, age, ethnicity, and other factors related to well-being and integration.

Conclusions and Implications: This study demonstrates how discrimination against refugees in the United States impacts their well-being across multiple domains, and it highlights groups of refugees who may be more vulnerable to experiencing it. For social work practice, these findings emphasize the need for policies, targeted support services, and advocacy programs to prevent discrimination and support refugees who are experiencing it. Future research could explore how contextual factors, such as political climate and migration policies, impact experiences of discrimination as well as what protective factors refugees draw on to mitigate its negative impacts on their lives. Future studies could also further explore the ethnoracialization of different groups of refugees and the ways in which it influences their health, social, and economic outcomes.