During fiscal year 2023, which ended last month, 419 refugees were resettled in Maine.
This year, resettlement agencies in the state have been approved to resettle 840 individuals, though the final number could end up being lower.
That number does not include individuals arriving in the state as asylum seekers.
Charles Mugabe, director of migration at Catholic Charities Maine, one of three resettlement agencies in the state, said the increase is part of a federal-level push.
"So during Fiscal Year 24, the federal government has requested all resettlement agencies to double most of the numbers that they are resettling," Mugabe said, adding that Catholic Charities Maine is expecting to resettle 500 refugees in FY24.
Rilwan Osman is the executive director of Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services in Lewiston, another resettlement agency, which has been approved to resettle 200 refugees this year, up from 100 last year.
He said finding housing is a perennial issue.
"That has been one of our major, major challenges that we have faced," he said.
Osman said his group is trying to build relationships with landlords beyond the Lewiston-Auburn area and has doubled its resettlement staff.
He said they expect new families to arrive as soon as next week, from Syria and Cambodia.
Siobhan Whalen is the resettlement program director at the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine.
She said her group has also started looking beyond the traditional resettlement hubs of Portland and Lewiston, placing some families in smaller cities such as Waterville.
"I feel hopeful about these less traditional areas for resettlement being a space where our families can feel safe and welcome," she said.
She said the JCA is preparing to welcome 28 refugees this month, including families from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Afghanistan, and Colombia.
