I can see why someone might have believed you might have been a refugee. Based on the information you provided. You made it seem like you moved because of a natural disaster. Would that not make you an internally displaced individual, a kind of refugee. Didn't your family seek refuge in a new territory. I don't doubt that the questioner was clumsy and maybe even racist but was there any malicious intent. Why are people so sensitive to unintended microaggressions?

TEK