Trump administration proposes increasing admission of White South African refugees: Report

The US government has proposed increasing the refugee admissions for White South Africans to 17,500 for the 2026 fiscal year.

Last year, the administration capped annual refugee admissions at 7,500, down sharply from the previous year’s limit of 125,000, while prioritising White South Africans and excluding many of the world’s most vulnerable populations.

According to a report by CNN, President Donald Trump has defended the administration's proposals by claiming that “a genocide is taking place” in South Africa and that “White farmers are being brutally killed and their land confiscated.”

An emergency determination related to the issue has been sent to Congress and cites remarks from the South African president and an incident from last year to prove its claims.

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“This escalating hostility heightens the risks to Afrikaners in South Africa, who are already subject to far-reaching government-sponsored race-based discrimination," the report says.

It added, "For these reasons, a revised ceiling of 17,500 is justified by grave humanitarian concerns and in the national interest as detailed in E.O. 14204 and will further the U.S. foreign policy interests described in that order.”

The White African issue

Last year, a group of around 50 white South Africans arrived for resettlement in the United States.

Trump essentially halted refugee arrivals after taking office, but is making an exception for the Afrikaners despite Pretoria’s insistence that they do not face persecution in their homeland.

Speaking at the White House shortly before the group’s arrival, Trump said the Afrikaners were fleeing a “terrible situation” back home.

“It’s a terrible situation taking place,” the president said at the time. “So we’ve essentially extended citizenship to those people to escape from that violence and come here.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, on the other hand, called all of the white Afrikaners who have relocated to the US as refugees “cowards” and claimed that “they will be back soon”.

“As South Africans, we are resilient. We don’t run away from our problems. We must stay here and solve our problems. When you run away you are a coward, and that’s a real cowardly act,” he said.