The Trump administration will welcome more than two dozen White South Africans to the United States as refugees next week, an unusual move given that Washington has suspended most refugee resettlement programmes, officials and documents indicated on Friday.
The moves come as the White House rejects asylum-seekers from most areas of the world by suspending the US refugee resettlement programme.
The first Afrikaner refugees are arriving Monday at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press. They are expected to be greeted by a government delegation, including the deputy secretary of state and officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, whose refugee office has organised their resettlement.
The flight will be the first of several in a “much larger-scale relocation effort”, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told reporters.
The Trump administration has taken a number of steps against South Africa, accusing the Black-led government of pursuing anti-White policies at home and an anti-American foreign policy.
The South African government denies the allegations and says the US criticism is operating on misinformation.
While State Department refugee programmes have been suspended – halting arrivals from Afghanistan, Iraq, most of sub-Saharan Africa and other countries in a move currently being challenged in court – President Donald Trump issued an executive order in February prioritising the processing of White South Africans and claiming racial discrimination.
“What’s happening in South Africa fits the textbook definition of why the refugee program was created,” Miller said. “This is persecution based on a protected characteristic – in this case, race. This is race-based persecution.”
South Africa is the homeland of close Trump adviser Elon Musk, who has been outspoken in his claims of discrimination against Whites in his home country, even accusing the government of "genocide".
White South Africans a 'priority'
Since Trump’s executive order, the US embassy in Pretoria has been conducting interviews, “prioritising consideration for US refugee resettlement of Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination”, the State Department said.
The department said nothing about the imminent arrival of what officials said are believed to be more than two dozen White South Africans from roughly four families who applied for resettlement in the US. Their arrival had originally been scheduled for early last week.
The HHS Office for Refugee Resettlement was ready to offer them support, including with housing, furniture and other household items, and expenses like groceries, clothing, diapers and more, the document says.
“This effort is a stated priority of the Administration.”
HHS did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Supporters of the refugee programme questioned why the Trump administration was moving so quickly to resettle White South Africans while halting the wider refugee programme, which brings people to the US who are displaced by war, natural disaster or persecution and involves significant security and vetting in a process that often takes years.
“We are concerned that the US Government has chosen to fast-track the admission of Afrikaners, while actively fighting court orders to provide life-saving resettlement to other refugee populations who are in desperate need,” Church World Services President Rick Santos said in a statement. His group has been assisting refugees for more than 70 years.
'Hypocrisy'
Letting in White South Africans while keeping out Afghans is “hypocrisy”, said Shawn VanDiver, who heads #AfghanEvac, which helps resettle Afghans who assisted the US military during the two-decade-long war.
“Afghans who served alongside US forces, who taught girls, who fought for democracy, and who now face Taliban reprisals, meet every definition of a refugee,” he said.
“Afghans risked their lives for us. That should matter.”
The Trump administration alleges the South African government has allowed minority White Afrikaner farmers to be persecuted and attacked while introducing an expropriation law designed to take away their land.
The South African government has said it was surprised by claims of discrimination against Afrikaners because White people still generally have a much higher standard of living than Black people more than 30 years after the end of the apartheid system.
South Africa holds the rotating presidency of the Group of 20 developed and developing nations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio notably boycotted a G20 foreign ministers meeting in Johannesburg in March because its agenda centred on diversity, inclusion and climate change. He also expelled South Africa’s ambassador to the US in March for comments that the Trump administration interpreted as accusing the president of promoting white supremacy.
Shortly thereafter, the State Department ended all engagement with the G20 during South Africa’s presidency. The US is due to host G20 meetings in 2026.
Read moreS. African ambassador 'no longer welcome' in the US, Rubio says
'No South African refugees'
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement Friday that he had spoken with Trump late last month on issues including US criticism of the country and allegations that Afrikaners are being persecuted. Ramaphosa told Trump that the information the US president had received “was completely false”.
“Therefore, our position is that there are no South African citizens that can be classified as refugees to any part of the world, including the US,” the statement said.
The South African foreign ministry said Deputy Foreign Minister Alvin Botes spoke with US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Friday about the refugees. Landau is expected to lead the delegation to welcome the group Monday.
South Africa “expressed concerns” and denied allegations of discrimination against Afrikaners, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“It is most regrettable that it appears that the resettlement of South Africans to the United States under the guise of being ‘refugees’ is entirely politically motivated and designed to question South Africa’s constitutional democracy,” the statement said. It noted that the country has worked to prevent any repeat of the type of persecution and discrimination that happened under apartheid rule.
The foreign ministry said it would not block anyone who wanted to leave as it respected their freedom of movement and choice.
But it said it was seeking information about the “status” of the people leaving South Africa, wanting assurances that they had been properly vetted and did not have outstanding criminal cases.
The foreign ministry added that South Africa was “dedicated to constructive dialogue” with the US.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
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