US refugee programme for white South Africans faces rejection wave
Trump issued an executive order in February 2025 establishing a refugee resettlement programme for white South Africans, or Afrikaners, whom he described as victims of systemic racial discrimination and what he called a "white genocide"
Dozens of white South Africans who applied for refugee resettlement in the United States under a programme established by President Donald Trump have received rejection letters, including some applicants who had previously been told they were "conditionally approved".
Trump issued an executive order in February 2025 establishing a refugee resettlement programme for white South Africans, or Afrikaners, whom he described as victims of systemic racial discrimination and what he called a "white genocide", says The Guardian.
The programme came as the United States halted refugee admissions for other populations fleeing war and persecution. An initial group of 68 Afrikaners arrived in the United States in May 2025, and more than 13,000 white South Africans had resettled in the country by August 2026.
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Applicants receive unappealable rejections
Beginning in late June 2026, applicants began receiving letters from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) saying they were no longer eligible for processing.
The letters said: "We are writing to inform you that, following review, USCIS [US Citizenship and Immigration Services] found your application to be ineligible for continued processing for resettlement to the United States at this time. This cannot be appealed"
The notices did not provide specific reasons for the decisions, leaving applicants dismayed and confused.
USCIS has declined to disclose how many applications it received or how many were rejected.
Among those affected were people who had already been told they were "conditionally approved" for resettlement.
One case involved an Afrikaner couple identified by the pseudonyms "Pieter and Liesl", who were managing a farm and each had a grandparent killed on a farm.
The rejections prompted affected applicants to connect through social media and messaging platforms. A WhatsApp group called "Hope beyond the Letter" had grown to 311 members by 10 September.
Debate over persecution claims
The resettlement programme was based on claims that white South Africans, particularly farmers, faced targeted persecution. Proponents and far-right groups have pointed to murders of white farmers as evidence of such persecution.
Official South African crime statistics, however, do not show that white residents or farmers experience crime at higher rates than other racial groups.
The issue has also been linked to economic and employment disparities in South Africa. Some white South Africans say policies including "black economic empowerment" and affirmative action discriminate against them on racial grounds.
At the same time, unemployment remains substantially higher among black South Africans. Available economic data puts the unemployment rate at about 38% for black South Africans, compared with about 9% for white South Africans.
Trump's characterisation of the situation as a "white genocide" has been disputed by South African officials and others, while the US administration expanded refugee eligibility for Afrikaners by describing them as a "racial minority".
For applicants now facing rejection, the lack of an appeal process and an explanation for the decisions has added uncertainty over their prospects of resettlement.
