Alternative Title
Trump again tries to limit refugee flow while favoring a specific ethnic group, leaving many waiting
In a move that has sparked outrage among human rights groups, President Donald Trump announced that the number of people eligible for the federal refugee program in fiscal year 2027 will be reduced to only 17,500 slots. The administration says most of these refugees will be „primarily” white South African citizens. The decision, communicated last month, effectively excludes nearly all other ethnic and national categories. Critics argue this will leave hundreds of thousands of refugees in dangerous situations worldwide, even if they have already been approved and vetted for entry into the United States.
According to information released by the Guardian, the US government has taken unusual steps to attract Afrikaners—a white Afrikaans-speaking ethnic group descended from Dutch and French colonizers in South Africa—despite the group not expressing significant interest in relocating to the US. During Trump’s first and second terms, various executive orders were signed and policies adopted that blocked nearly all refugee flows, except for white South Africans. This limitation was published on September 25 and represents the latest effort to undermine legal immigration and reshape the demographics of those allowed to enter the country.
„We are losing focus on humanitarian need,” said Kennji Kizuka, policy director at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a New York-based humanitarian NGO. „We have built, over decades, a humanitarian system meant to avoid politicized decisions about which refugees we accept.” Kizuka added that many refugees who were ready to travel to the US before the inauguration had their plans canceled at the last minute, and „all those plans were shattered.”
The Department of Homeland Security directed all questions to the State Department
The Department of Homeland Security directed all questions to the State Department. An official from that department stated in a release: „President Trump has clearly stated that we prioritize the resettlement of Afrikaners who are experiencing government-sponsored racial discrimination in South Africa, in accordance with Executive Order 14204.” Meanwhile, a White House spokesperson said: „President Trump has offered a lifeline to Afrikaners, who are harmed, mutilated, killed, and forced to flee their properties in South Africa. While the South African government and much of the press downplay the tragic experiences of this community, the Trump administration continues to process refugee status applications because the president has a humanitarian heart.”
For fiscal year 2026, which ended on September 30, the Trump administration set the refugee ceiling at 17,500. In total, the US admitted 16,292 refugees during that period—almost all were Afrikaners, with the exception of five from Afghanistan. In contrast, the total cap during the Biden administration was 125,000. Trump and his allies have claimed there is a „white genocide” against the white minority in South Africa, an accusation without evidence and contrary to official statements from the new South African ambassador to the US, who denied the phenomenon exists.
US organizations working with refugees consider these actions discriminatory. „Tens of thousands of refugees in the pipeline for the US refugee admissions program are affected,” said Mevlüde Akay Alp, senior litigation attorney at the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), a New York-based nonprofit promoting human rights for refugees and displaced persons. „It is especially cruel to see the government prioritize new Afrikaners without considering people who have undergone years of processing and were promised safety in the United States.”
The refugee admissions process can be extremely lengthy, requiring checks, interviews, and background screenings that can take years. Thousands of refugees were already in line for admission to the US when Trump blocked most arrivals and accelerated the flow of Afrikaners. The government said it will admit refugees based on individual exceptions, such as those from South Africa. However, a lawsuit filed by IRAP last year, representing several refugees and resettlement organizations, accused the government of refusing to inform refugees and their lawyers about exception criteria and the adjudication process. „None of the others, including our clients, have a way to request exceptions for themselves, no matter how dire their situation or how strong their ties to the United States,” said Alp. An appeals court largely upheld the Trump administration, but IRAP challenged the decision, bringing the case before a federal court in Washington state. Legal battles continue.
For many families, the administration’s decisions have been a devastating shock. Vartush and her family, represented by the IRC, are currently in a state of uncertainty. Vartush, a 70-year-old Armenian American Christian from California, asked to be identified only by her initial to avoid endangering her son’s admission process. She is of Armenian origin and Christian faith and lived in Iran with her family. She said she and many family members fled Iran and arrived in the US in 2009 under the refugee admissions program due to religious persecution. However, delays and the lengthy admission process kept her adult son in Iran. Finally, in 2024, her son and his life partner were approved to take the next step.