The Trump administration is moving forward with a refugee resettlement program that will bring white Afrikaners from South Africa to the United States, citing racial persecution and discrimination as the basis for their relocation. The first group—more than two dozen individuals—is expected to arrive on Monday, marking the beginning of what officials say will be a “much larger-scale relocation effort.”
The program comes at a time when the administration has paused most other refugee admissions. Stephen Miller, one of President Donald Trump’s top advisors, defended the decision, stating, “This is persecution based on a protected characteristic — in this case, race. This is race-based persecution.”
President Trump reinforced that sentiment in posts to Truth Social. On April 11, he declared, “They are taking the land of white Farmers, and then killing them and their families.” A day later, he added, “How could we be expected to go to South Africa for the very important G20 Meeting when Land Confiscation and Genocide is the primary topic of conversation? They are taking the land of white Farmers, and then killing them and their families. The Media refuses to report on this.”
The refugees will be resettled in several states, including Minnesota, Idaho, and Alabama, and will be welcomed by a government delegation including the Deputy Secretary of State and Department of Health and Human Services officials.
The South African government has condemned the U.S. program, calling it politically motivated and factually unfounded. “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 country’s foreign ministry said.
In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio expelled the South African ambassador from the U.S., referring to him as a “race-baiting” official who “hates America and President Donald Trump.” Rubio also boycotted a G20 meeting in Johannesburg over the same issue.
Afrikaners, who are primarily descendants of Dutch settlers, have faced increasing scrutiny from their government in recent years amid efforts to redistribute land without compensation. Political figures such as Julius Malema, leader of the marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the nation’s fourth largest party, have been outspoken in their support for such anti-white policies. Malema has recently revived the controversial “Kill the Boer” chant at his rallies. “Boer” traditionally refers to those white South Africans of European descent.
This has caused massive backlash with figures such as billionaire Elon Musk, himself a native South African, calling out South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for remaining silent as Malema and his supporters are “openly pushing for genocide of white people in South Africa.”
The South African government insists that these expropriation policies are necessary to address the legacy of apartheid.
Nonetheless, the Trump administration argues that the situation constitutes textbook refugee qualifications. The U.S. Embassy in Pretoria has been conducting interviews under Trump’s Executive Order on Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa.
“We will continue to prioritize resettlement for those who face real, verifiable persecution,” a State Department spokesperson said.
