A360
Key Takeaways✦ Atlas AI
01
U.S. to admit 17,500 white South African refugees.
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Decision based on claims of Afrikaner persecution.
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Refugee programs for other nations suspended.
Atlas AI
The U.S. government said Monday it plans to increase the number of white South Africans it will admit as refugees in the fiscal year ending in September, citing what it described as an emergency refugee situation. The State Department notified Congress that it intends to accept up to 17,500 Afrikaners by September. That is an increase from a previously stated intake of about 7,500 refugees for the year, which officials said would be mainly white South Africans.
The U.S. began admitting white South Africans as refugees in May 2025. Officials said the expanded plan follows what they called “unforeseen developments in South Africa” that increased risks for Afrikaners.
The move comes under a policy shift launched during President Donald Trump’s second term. U.S. officials have argued that Afrikaners face racial targeting, a claim the South African government has repeatedly rejected.
The State Department’s emergency notice to Congress also estimated the cost of resettling an additional 10,000 white South Africans at about $100 million.
State Department cites rhetoric and a December raid
In its notice, the State Department said South African government rhetoric “across multiple ministries and political parties” has sought to undermine the U.S. resettlement program and attacked Afrikaners. It also cited a December raid on a U.S. refugee processing center, which the U.S. government said at the time was “unacceptable.”
South Africa’s government defended the raid by saying it deported seven Kenyans who were working illegally without permits. U.S. officials said the episode reflected escalating hostility that heightened risks for Afrikaners.
Refugee priorities shift as other programs are suspended
The focus on white South African admissions coincides with the suspension of refugee settlement programs for people fleeing war and persecution in other countries, including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan, according to the report.
In the fiscal year ending September 2024, the last full fiscal year before the current administration took office, the United States admitted more than 100,000 refugees. The government’s updated plan for Afrikaner admissions is expected to draw scrutiny in Congress and from refugee advocates as the fiscal year deadline approaches.
