Each year the Department of State decides the number of refugees allowed to enter the United States and from which countries they should come.

The process of obtaining refugee status to come to the United States is difficult. It involves interviews with authorities such as the Immigration and Naturalization Service, medical examiners and case workers who record details of the horrors they have endured in their flight to safety.

It can take months and in some cases many years to gain permission to enter the United States as a refugee. Of the 13 million refugees in the world today, only a small fraction will ever be resettled in the United States. Each year, approximately 80,000 refugees are allowed to enter the United States. Of that total, approximately 350 refugees arrive in South Dakota each year.