Tampa residents are used to accepting refugees from other countries, and they’ve witnessed an increase in the number from Syria in recent months, but officials with Florida’s Refugee Services believe the real influx has only just begun.

In September, Obama announced intentions to expedite the resettlement process for about 10,000 Syrian refugees fleeing civil war in their country over the next year, a massive increase from the roughly 1,500 who resettled before the war, the Tampa Bay Tribune reports.

The wave of new refugees will come from a list of people who have been waiting years to come into the United States. Last year, three refugees resettled near Tampa, and the number has skyrocketed to 41 so far for this year – an increase of more than 1,300 percent. And officials with the Florida Department of Children and Families’ Refugee Services warned they’re expecting far more in coming years.

“The refugee process takes a long time,” the department’s community liaison, Janet Blair, told the Tribune. “The folks on the news, those streaming into Europe, it will be a year or two before they begin arriving here. We anticipate seeing more, but it will be a gradual increase.”

The news site reports Florida accepts the most refugees of all states in the nation, with the Miami-Dade and Tampa Bay areas leading the way, respectively.

Blair said most of the recent Syrian refugees were resettled with the help of local nonprofit agencies, and many came with medical needs.

“A majority of our refugees are actually Cuban-Haitian entrants,” she said. “But we are starting to see more arrivals from Syria as well as from countries in Africa including Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan. These African refugees are also fleeing war and persecution and receive less media coverage.”

She said refugees can become legal residents within a year, and U.S. citizens within five years.

“There is a lot of confusion about them,” Blair said. “A refugee is someone who has fled his or her country; they didn’t choose to leave. They fled because of a well-founded fear of persecution based on one of five categories: race, religion, nationality, social group membership or political opinion.”

Florida’s Hillsborough County is taking advantage of the influx in refugees. County commissioners unanimously passed a resolution – the first in Florida – welcoming them to their community, according to the Tribune.

“Over the past five years, 11,000 refugees have settled in Hillsborough County and they have provided a vibrant economic impact to our community,” Hillborough commissioner Kevin Beckner said.

Commissioner Victor Crist said the county must do what it can to prepare for what’s expected to be a significant wave of Syrians.

“I was not concerned about us receiving refugees,” Crist said. “But we need to be prepared for when they come. We don’t want to invite someone over for dinner and have no food in the fridge.”

Florida officials, and those from numerous other states, meanwhile, are pressuring Obama to reconsider his resettlement strategy in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. One of the alleged suspects falsely identified himself as a Syrian named Ahmad al Muhammad to pass through Greece in October, according to CNN.

“More than half the nation’s governors say they oppose letting Syrian refugees into their states, although the final say on this contentious immigration issue will fall to the federal government,” the news site reports.

About 30 states are protesting Obama’s Syrian refugee resettlement plan. Fox News reports 17 states have already moved to suspend or restrict refugees, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia,  Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin.

“Given the tragic attacks in Paris and the threats we have already seen, Texas cannot participate in any program that will result in Syrian refugees — any one of whom could be connected to terrorism — being resettled in Texas,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote in a letter to Obama obtained by Fox News.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul also urged Obama to “temporarily suspend the admission of all additional Syrian refugees” pending a “full review,” according to another letter.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned states turning their backs on Syrians in a statement Monday.

“Defeating ISIS involves projecting American ideals to the world,” it read. “Governors who reject those fleeing war and persecution abandon our ideals and instead project our fears to the world.”

Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at American University, told CNN states don’t have the authority to reject refugees, but they don’t have to welcome them with open arms, either.

“Legally, states have no authority to do anything because the question of who should be allowed in this country is one the Constitution commits to the federal government,” he said. “So (a state) can’t say it is legally objecting, but it can refuse to cooperate, which makes things much more difficult.”