A controversial decision by U.S. President Donald Trump has ignited global debate after a group of white South Africans, known as Afrikaners, were granted refugee status and arrived in the United States this week.
Met at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., by Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Troy Edgar, the group, numbering between 49 and 59 according to conflicting reports from Reuters and the Associated Press, was greeted with American flags and public praise from senior U.S. officials.
“It is such an honour for us to receive you here today,” Landau told the newly arrived Afrikaners. “It makes me so happy to see you with our flag in your hands.”
Landau invoked his own family’s history of fleeing Nazi Germany, drawing a controversial parallel to the experiences of the white South Africans, whom Trump has repeatedly described as victims of a “genocide”, a claim widely debunked and associated with far-right conspiracy theories.
“We’re sending a clear message that the United States really rejects the egregious persecution of people on the basis of race in South Africa,” Landau added, echoing Trump’s position.
The move has sparked backlash both domestically and abroad, with critics accusing the Trump administration of prioritizing white refugees while simultaneously curbing protections for people fleeing war and persecution in countries like Afghanistan. On the same day the Afrikaners arrived, the U.S. ended temporary protections for Afghan refugees, claiming the Taliban-led country had reached “sufficient stability.”
Landau defended the prioritization, stating that the Afrikaners “could be easily assimilated into our country,” a remark that drew sharp criticism for its racial undertones.
The Trump administration’s decision followed a February executive order that granted refugee status specifically to Afrikaners. This came after Trump suspended the broader U.S. refugee program in January, leaving over 100,000 approved refugees stranded worldwide.
When asked why white South Africans were being prioritized over victims of famine, war, and systemic violence across Africa, Trump responded, “It’s a genocide that’s taking place,” again repeating a widely discredited narrative. He added, “Their race makes no difference to me,” but insisted that South African leaders must address the issue before he would consider attending the G20 summit in Johannesburg later this year.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa rejected Trump’s claims, stating at a conference in Ivory Coast that he had directly informed the U.S. president that he had been misled.
“We think that the American government has got the wrong end of the stick here, but we’ll continue talking to them,” Ramaphosa said. He pointed out that efforts to address historical racial inequalities, still deeply felt decades after apartheid, are being misconstrued as anti-white discrimination.
Economic inequality in South Africa remains stark: white South Africans hold, on average, 20 times more wealth than their Black counterparts, and the unemployment rate among Black South Africans stands at 46.1%, compared to just 9.2% among whites.
In the U.S., human rights and refugee advocacy groups expressed deep concern. Laura Thompson Osuri, executive director of Homes Not Borders, greeted arrivals with a sign reading: “Refugee. Noun. A person who has been forced to leave his or her country due to persecution, war or violence. Afrikaners are not refugees.”
“This policy is a showpiece,” Osuri said. “It says: ‘Look at us. We do welcome people as long as they look like us.’”
The Episcopal Church, long a government partner in refugee resettlement, announced it would terminate its cooperation over the decision, citing its commitment to racial justice.
Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland condemned the move during a recent policy forum, calling it “a global apartheid policy” and “an outrageous insult to the whole idea of our country.”
As debate rages on, Trump’s decision to selectively welcome white South Africans as refugees, while turning away others in more dire need, continues to fuel accusations of racial bias and political theater, both in the U.S. and abroad.
