Since World War II , more refugees have found homes in the U.S. than any other nation and more than two million refugees have arrived in the U.S. since 1980 . During much of the 1990s , the United States accepted over 100,000 refugees per year , though this figure has recently decreased to around 50,000 per year in the first decade of the 21st century , due to greater security concerns . As for asylum seekers , the latest statistics show that 86,400 persons sought sanctuary in the United States in 2001 . Before the September 11 attacks individual asylum applicants were evaluated in private proceedings at the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services ( INS )
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Right of asylum