Refugee resettlement has resumed in the U.S., but only for white South Africans President Donald Trump considers to be victims of the country’s post-apartheid government.
The first group of 49 Afrikaners landed at Washington Dulles International Airport May 12, The New York Times reported. “The arrival marks a drastic reversal in the United States’ refugee policies, which have long focused on helping people fleeing war, famine and genocide.”
Trump essentially ended refugee resettlement with a Jan. 20 executive order claiming refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants “inundated” the U.S. during the previous four years.
“The United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees,” he said.
But less than a month later, the president issued another order directing the federal government to suspend foreign aid to South Africa and to expedite the resettlement of Afrikaners “who are victims of unjust racial discrimination.”
The Republic of South Africa has enacted “countless” policies of racial discrimination against Afrikaners and “taken aggressive positions toward the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice, and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements,” he said.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (Photo by Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has strongly refuted Trump’s accusations, including his claim the government is seizing the property of white citizens.
“South Africa is a constitutional democracy that is deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice and equality. The South African government has not confiscated any land,” Ramaphosa said on X.
But Trump doubled down on the action when asked why he is allowing some refugees to enter the U.S. while keeping out those facing violence in Congo, Sudan and other war-torn regions.
“It is a genocide that is taking place that you people don’t want to write about,” he said. “It’s a terrible thing that’s taking place, and farmers are being killed. They happen to be white, but whether they are white or Black makes no difference to me. White farmers are being brutally killed, and their land is being confiscated in South Africa.”
Trump also blamed the media for covering up the mass murder of whites in South Africa, although he provided no proof such killings have occurred.
“The newspapers and television media don’t talk about it. If it were the other way around, they would talk about it — it would be the only story they’d talk about. I don’t care who they are or their race or color, their height, weight — I don’t care about anything. What is happening is terrible. I have people who live in South Africa saying it is a terrible situation taking place. We’ve essentially extended citizenship to those people.”
The administration’s expedited resettlement of white South Africans comes even as it is attempting to end the temporary legal status provided to Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans due to well-documented persecution in those countries. Trump also wants to deport Afghan refugees whose killing and torture by the Taliban is all but guaranteed if returned to that nation.
“For Afghan women and girls, ending these humanitarian protections means ending access to opportunity, freedom and safety,” said Global Refuge President Krish O’Mara Vignarajah. “Forcing them back to Taliban rule, where they face systemic oppression and gender-based violence, would be an utterly unconscionable stain on our nation’s reputation.”
The administration faces several lawsuits from immigrant groups challenging their termination of legal protected status.
Breanne Palmer
Speaking to The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights before the Afrikaners’ arrival, attorney and immigration policy advocate Breanne Palmer described the move as “a stunning development” and a “a new low” in the history of American anti-Blackness.
“We are familiar with the history of South Africa being an apartheid state until the 1990s, when the majority of Black South Africans were completely locked out of civil society and subject to incredible amounts of oppression,” she said. “Now, this administration claims that white South Africans, who were in power for at least a century, if not more, are now being targeted by anti-white sentiment by the South African government as it works to grant Black South Africans the opportunities, land, and rights they were denied for so long.”
And in the latest development, the Episcopal Church May 12 ended its refugee resettlement agreement with the federal government rather than comply with a directive to help resettle white South Africans. The church cited its “steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation.”
Sean Rowe, presiding bishop, wrote in his explanation: “I am saddened and ashamed that many of the refugees who are being denied entrance to the United States are brave people who worked alongside our military in Iraq and Afghanistan and now face danger at home because of their service to our country. I also grieve that victims of religious persecution, including Christians, have not been granted refuge in recent months.”
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