Trump Administration Resettles White South Africans as Refugees, Citing ‘Genocide’ Claims

A group of 59 white Afrikaners from South Africa has arrived in the United States as part of a refugee resettlement program initiated by the administration of President Donald Trump, Al Jazeera reports.

The move is drawing widespread criticism amid allegations that the program is rooted in a debunked far-right narrative about racial discrimination against white South Africans.

At a press conference Monday, Trump repeated claims often circulated in extremist circles, suggesting that white people in South Africa face systematic violence and persecution.

“It’s a genocide that’s taking place,” he said from the White House, echoing rhetoric that has been widely discredited by South African officials, human rights groups, and even some Afrikaners themselves.

As Al Jazeera‘s Patty Culhane reports, the Trump administration prioritized the resettlement of white South Africans while simultaneously slamming the door on refugees from countries such as Haiti and Afghanistan—many of whom are fleeing active conflict and dire humanitarian crises.

The decision has fueled accusations of racial bias in U.S. immigration policy. While the administration continued to portray immigration from poorer, predominantly non-white countries as an “invasion,” it facilitated and funded the relocation of white South African families who were not living in refugee camps nor formally displaced.

The South African government swiftly rejected Trump’s claims.

“We think that the American government has got the wrong end of the stick here, but we’ll continue talking to them,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday. Ramaphosa, a key figure in the anti-apartheid movement, emphasized that Afrikaners remain among the wealthiest and most economically secure populations in South Africa.

According to The Review of Political Economy, South African whites still control approximately three-quarters of all privately owned land and possess 20 times the wealth of the Black majority—figures that contradict claims of persecution.

Despite this, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau personally welcomed the resettled group, stating: “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. We respect the long tradition of your people and what you have accomplished over the years.”

Human rights experts have sharply criticized the program. Bill Frelick, refugee policy director at Human Rights Watch, called the expedited process for Afrikaner resettlement “unprecedented.” “These are people who were not living in refugee camps; who hadn’t fled their country. They were the group that was most associated with the oppression of the Black majority through apartheid,” Frelick told Al Jazeera. “It’s not like these are among the most vulnerable refugees of the world.”

The Trump administration’s decision to offer sanctuary to Afrikaners has also deepened diplomatic tensions with South Africa. The U.S. previously expelled South Africa’s ambassador following critical remarks about Trump and clashed with Pretoria over its position in the International Court of Justice case accusing U.S. ally Israel of genocide in Gaza.

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