Here’s What To Know About White South African Refugees Entering The U.S.

Topline

Dozens of refugees from South Africa arrived in Washington on Monday as part of President Donald Trump’s decision to accept South Africans who say they’ve been discriminated against by their government—despite the Trump administration stopping most other refugee operations.

Key Facts

The first plane of Afrikaners, a white minority in South Africa, landed at Washington Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, D.C., on Monday afternoon after leaving Johannesburg.

Trump issued an executive order in February alleging the South African government was dismantling “equal opportunity in employment, education, and business,” adding “hateful rhetoric and government actions” were “fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners.”

Trump said Monday prior to the refugees arriving that what’s happening in South Africa is “a genocide” and that “white farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated.”

The president appeared to brush aside concerns about race being the main factor in letting the refugees in, though, saying “I don’t care about their race, their color, I don’t care about their height, their weight, I don’t care about anything, I just know that what’s happening is terrible,” while noting they “happen to be white.”

South Africa denies Trump’s claims, and said in a statement when the president first began attacking the country that Trump’s allegations made in February were “of great concern” and lacked “factual accuracy.”

The February order called on the secretary of state and Homeland Security secretary—Marco Rubio and Kristi Noem, respectively—to “prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement … for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination.”

What Does The Expropriation Act Do?

In January, South Africa enacted the Expropriation Act, which officials said could right the wrongs of apartheid by allowing the government to seize land and redistribute it in an effort to correct disparities in land ownership between non-white and white South Africans. Earlier this year, CNN reported Black South Africans make up about 80% of the country’s population but own just 4% of private land. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a post on X after the legislation was enacted that it is a “legal process that ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution.” The Washington Post reported no land seizures have occurred under the law yet, but the government does have the ability to take property without giving compensation, subject to a judge’s review.

Why Have Other Refugee Operations Have Been Stopped Under Trump?

On his first day in office this term, Trump signed an executive order directing the secretary of Homeland Security to “suspend decisions on applications for refugee status” until it's determined whether allowing refugees into the U.S. “would be in the interests” of the country. He ordered Noem to analyze existing laws and provide him with a report on the matter recommending whether refugees be allowed again. Trump’s order stated that “to ensure that public safety and national security are paramount considerations,” refugees should only be admitted if they can “fully and appropriately assimilate into” the country. A number of refugee aid groups sued the Trump administration over the order and argued it inhibited their ability to provide necessary services, and the legal challenge is playing out in court.

Why Are Afrikaners Being Allowed?

When asked Monday why Afrikaners were being allowed while others “fleeing persecution” were being denied refugee status, Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau told reporters “some of the criteria (to allow people in) are making sure that refugees did not pose any challenge to our national security and that they could be assimilated easily into our country.” Landau said all of the people who arrived Monday had been “carefully vetted pursuant to our refugee standards.” He continued: “Whether or not the broader refugee programs for other people around the world will be lifted is still an ongoing consideration, but again the president has recognized the dire situation of this particular group of people.” The South African government said in February, after Trump announced refugees would be welcome, that it was “ironic” the Trump administration was allowing taking in refugees from a group that “remains amongst the most economically privileged” in South Africa, while “vulnerable people in the U.S. from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship.”

Big Number

49. That’s how many Afrikaners were aboard the first plane of refugees arriving in the U.S. The refugees—who reportedly faced persecution, though none of them shared details when they landed of what they had faced—were set to board connecting flights to 10 states where local refugee organizations would lead their resettling, The Washington Post reported.

Crucial Quote

“I want you all to know that you are really welcome here and that we respect what you have had to deal with these last few years,” Landau told the group of South Africans that landed Monday, the Associated Press reported. “We respect the long tradition of your people and what you have accomplished over the years.”

Contra

The Episcopal Church said in a statement Monday it will end its refugee resettlement grant agreements with the government by the end of the year because of the Trump administration's expectation that it resettle Afrikaners. In a letter, the presiding bishop of the church, Rev. Sean W. Rowe, said the Episcopal church is unable to resettle Afrikaners because of the “church’s steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.” Rowe also said, “It has been painful to watch one group of refugees, selected in a highly unusual manner, receive preferential treatment over many others who have been waiting in refugee camps or dangerous conditions for years.”

What To Watch For

Trump said Monday he believes South African leaders are coming to speak with him next week, though he added, “I don’t know how we can go unless that situation’s taken care of.”

Surprising Fact

Elon Musk, who has served as a key adviser to Trump after donating hundreds of millions to his presidential campaign, is South African, as is Trump’s crypto and AI czar David Sacks, a former PayPal executive. Musk has said he is not from an Afrikaner background, and neither is Sacks.

Key Background

Afrikaners are an ethnic group from South Africa that are largely descended from Dutch settlers to South Africa. Many Afrikaners, who were largely considered to have led apartheid, farm to make a living, The New York Times reported, as the government didn’t allow Black South Africans to own “prime agricultural land” during apartheid, which ended in 1994—though white South Africans still own most farm land in the country. Afrikaners have alleged they have faced violence on farms and have been discriminated against for years, according to the Times, but experts say their claims are exaggerated. Reuters reported claims that white South Africans face discrimination from Black South Africans “has become an established trope in right-wing online chatrooms.” There are an estimated 3 million Afrikaners in South Africa, USA Today reported.

Further Reading

Trump Offers South African Farmers 'Rapid Pathway' For US Citizenship After Suspending Aid (Forbes)

US to accept white South African refugees while other programs remain paused (Associated Press)