By: Mary Campbell
The White House is reportedly preparing to cap the U.S. refugee admissions at 40,000 for fiscal year 2026, with a striking three‑quarters of these slots—approximately 30,000 places—earmarked specifically for white South Africans, particularly Afrikaners. This represents not only a sharp reduction from the 100,000 refugees admitted under the Biden administration in fiscal year 2024 but also a notable increase from the Trump-era cap of 15,000 in 2021.
This figure stems from internal discussions, including an email from Angie Salazar, the senior refugee program official at the Department of Health and Human Services, which outlined the allocation during internal coordination efforts. However, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly cautioned that no decisions are final and that any refugee cap—including this proposed figure—is speculative until confirmed before the fiscal year begins on October 1.
The policy would mark a dramatic exception in U.S. refugee policy: while most refugee admissions remain frozen or sharply cut, this plan would fast‑track cases for a single demographic group—white South Africans. Earlier this year, a similar directive resulted in the first group of approximately 49–59 Afrikaner individuals arriving as refugees in the U.S., a move facilitated via an executive order that invoked claims of racial persecution and land confiscation as justification.
This planned allocation has stirred considerable backlash. In a June poll by Yahoo News/YouGov, while 61% of Americans supported accepting refugees generally, only 36% supported giving special priority to Afrikaners. Opposition rose sharply (52%) when this group was fast‑tracked ahead of others included in the broader refugee process.
The Episcopal Church, speaking out strongly against the policy, announced its withdrawal from the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, stating the Trump administration’s preferential treatment of white South Africans contradicted its commitment to racial justice. At the same time, the U.N. stated that no South Africans met international refugee criteria last year. Meanwhile, South Africa has rejected claims of targeted persecution, with President Cyril Ramaphosa denouncing the underlying premise as factually baseless and politically motivated.
The focus on Afrikaners coincides with intensified U.S. criticism of human rights practices in South Africa. Drafts of the State Department’s annual human rights reports, reviewed by The Washington Post, signal a shift—highlighting alleged ‘genocide’ and persecution of Afrikaners while omitting or downplaying issues in other countries. Critics—ranging from human rights advocates to foreign leaders—have condemned this move as politicized and aimed at reshaping global narratives.
As the federal government evaluates refugee allocations ahead of the new fiscal year, the proposed plan to prioritize white South Africans looms as one of most contentious immigration policy shifts of the Trump administration so far. With global refugee crises ongoing and calls for humanitarian consistency mounting, officials face mounting pressure to justify such a targeted approach—both within domestic politics and on the international stage.
In summary, while the proposal to allocate 75% of all refugee slots to white South Africans remains unconfirmed, it marks a highly controversial departure from norms, prompting intense debate and legal, moral, and diplomatic scrutiny.