Trump sets record-low refugee cap, prioritising white Afrikaners from South Africa

US President Donald Trump has set the lowest refugee admission limit in the country’s history, just 7,500 people for the 2026 fiscal year, effectively closing America’s doors to most of the world’s displaced.

A presidential document published Thursday but dated September 30 states that the limited slots will “primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa pursuant to Executive Order 14204 and other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands.”

Trump has repeatedly claimed that white South Africans face persecution in their country, an assertion denied by both the South African government and leading Afrikaner groups.

The order also reshuffles how refugee services will be managed. Grants and contracts that previously went to public and private organisations will now be rerouted to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement. The move, the White House said, will “ensure better alignment of resources, oversight, and accountability.”

The 7,500 cap marks a drastic reduction from the 125,000 refugees admitted under former President Joe Biden in his final year in office. It’s also the lowest number since the Refugee Act of 1980 established the modern US refugee admissions system.

Since then, more than two million refugees have been resettled through the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). Trump sought to suspend the programme during his first term, a move blocked by federal courts after legal challenges from immigrant rights groups.

The new cap will apply from October 2025 through September 2026, while global displacement continues to soar. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates there are now 42.7 million refugees worldwide.

Critics warn that Trump’s decision could all but dismantle the US refugee system, leaving thousands stranded and signalling a sharp turn away from the country’s decades-old humanitarian commitments.