Trump Plans to Limit the Number of White South African Refugees
The Trump Administration Plans to Limit the Number of Refugees
When Trump returned to the White House, he immediately suspended the refugee program, leaving people around the world already approved for it in limbo.
Donald Trump's administration plans to limit the number of refugees to be admitted to the U.S. in 2027 to 17,500 people, mostly white South Africans. This was stated in a notice by the presidential administration to the U.S. Congress, the Associated Press reported.
In the notice to Congress, the administration said white South Africans face the risk of having their land taken and other forms of persecution, and that they are likely to integrate when they arrive in America. South Africa's government has repeatedly rejected the claim that white South Africans are a persecuted minority in their homeland.
The Trump administration has dramatically changed Washington's refugee program, which has allowed tens of thousands of refugees from countries around the world to start new lives in the United States. Instead, the administration turned it into a tool to resettle white South Africans in the United States.
In its announcement to Congress, the administration said it intended to spend about $500 million on new arrivals to the United States.
Organizations that have been working for years to house refugees in new homes in the country have criticized the administration's decision to again limit the program to white South Africans.
Presidents determine the maximum number of refugees the U.S. will accept under the program each year. Historically, these numbers have been distributed among different geographical regions, taking into account the wars and conflicts that create humanitarian needs around the world. Since the launch of the program in 1980, an average of 92,000 people per year have been admitted to the United States.
Last year, the Trump administration initially set a quota of 7,500 people, mostly Afrikaners, but later increased the number to 17,500 after saying that "unforeseen developments in South Africa have created an emergency refugee situation."
During his first term, Trump significantly reduced the number of refugees approved for admission each year. The Democratic administration of Joe Biden restored the program by setting a goal of admitting 125,000 refugees in Biden's last year in office.
When Trump returned to the White House, he immediately suspended the refugee program, leaving people around the world already approved for it in limbo. The administration then resumed the program but limited it to white South Africans.
Afrikaners are descendants mainly of Dutch and French colonial settlers who first arrived in South Africa in the 17th century. They are just one of the white minority groups in the country, among which there are also South Africans of British descent.
Afrikaners were at the heart of the apartheid system — racial segregation in South Africa, which lasted from 1948 to 1994, when Nelson Mandela was elected the country's first Black president in the first democratic elections in which citizens of all races participated.
The Afrikaners' leading role in apartheid has contributed to the preservation of certain racial tensions, but in general, Afrikaners have embraced the country's new multiracial democracy, as have most other South Africans.