Trump poised to expand refugee program for white South Africans

President Donald Trump's administration is considering more than doubling an annual refugee limit to bring more white South Africans into the U.S., according to three people familiar with the matter.



Trump, a Republican, paused refugee admissions from around the world when he took office in January 2025. Weeks later, he issued an executive order prioritizing the resettlement of European-descended Afrikaners, saying they faced race-based persecution in majority-Black South Africa. South Africa’s

government vehemently denies the claims.



The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program was formally established in 1980 after hundreds of thousands of people fled wars in Vietnam and Cambodia. The program expanded to provide safe haven to persecuted people around the globe. Trump has used it almost exclusively to bring white South Africans into the

U.S., part of a broader upending of norms around humanitarian protection.