The Trump administration has moved to admit 10,000 additional white South Africans, arguing an “emergency refugee situation” warrants an expansion of the number of Afrikaners allowed into the country.
The administration proposed increasing the refugee admissions ceiling for Afrikaners this fiscal year from 7,500 to 17,500.
The Trump administration plans to admit up to 10,000 more white South African refugees into the United States in the coming months, arguing that their status as Afrikaners has left them open to discrimination and persecution at home.
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— ABC News (@ABC) May 19, 2026
More from The New York Times:
The government has calculated that the additional 10,000 refugee slots for Afrikaners will cost roughly $100 million, according to the report submitted to Congress.
The administration is expected to hold formal meetings with Congress to discuss the report in the coming days, according to a person familiar with the matter. But the Trump administration has in the past treated such consultations with Congress over its refugee program as a formality before finalizing the changes.
ADVERTISEMENTThe White House and State Department did not return requests for comment.
Mr. Trump early last year dramatically lowered the number of refugees allowed into the country to 7,500 for this fiscal year, down from the cap of 125,000 set by the Biden administration in 2024. The limited number of slots were reserved mostly for Afrikaners, as well as some other South African minorities.
Mr. Trump and his aides have claimed Afrikaners face racial persecution, an assertion strongly disputed by South African officials. The administration has also publicly attacked the South African government on issues like government land seizures and laws meant to redress the legacy of apartheid.
“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 sent to Congress read, according to CNN.
“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,” it added.
“Proposing to admit only white South Africans as ‘refugees’ while denying legitimate asylum seekers, like Afghans who fought alongside Americans, is a disturbing policy. It erodes the purpose of this life-saving program and contradicts our values as Americans,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) said.
“Proposing to admit only white South Africans as ‘refugees’ while denying legitimate asylum seekers, like Afghans who fought alongside Americans, is a disturbing policy. It erodes the purpose of this life-saving program and contradicts our values as Americans." –@SenatorShaheen https://t.co/ywJggE857V
— Senate Foreign Relations Committee (@SFRCdems) May 19, 2026
CNN wrote:
President Donald Trump has justified the administration’s decision to resettle Afrikaners in the US by citing claims that “a genocide is taking place” in South Africa, saying that “White farmers are being brutally killed and their land confiscated.”
South African authorities have strongly denied such claims. CNN has investigated the claims of White “genocide” in South Africa and found no evidence to back them up.
The emergency determination cited remarks from the South African president and an incident last year when the South African government questioned US personnel on assignment in the country.
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