 The first national Greek census after 1923, conducted in 1928, showed the number of the Greeks of Asia Minor origin to be 1,164,267 (probably over 3 million).Some refugees had moved to Russia and the Middle East in previous years.Approximately 250,000 Greek Americans of Asia Minor descent had emigrated to the United States between 1866 and 1917, had American citizenship, and thereby would not become refugees; they would, however, be deprived from their property rights in their ancestral homeland, as well as from their right to return.