The administration of United States President Donald Trump is considering a significant expansion of the country’s refugee admissions programme in a move aimed largely at white South Africans of Afrikaner descent, according to internal documents and officials familiar with the discussions.
A report obtained by Reuters indicates that policymakers are debating whether to raise the current ceiling of 7,500 refugees for the 2026 fiscal year by as many as 10,000 additional places. Such an increase would more than double the existing cap and mark a sharp departure from the administration’s broader record of restricting refugee inflows from other parts of the world.
Officials say the proposal is being driven by Trump’s long-standing claim that white farmers in South Africa, particularly Afrikaners, face systematic persecution and racially motivated land seizures. He has repeatedly highlighted alleged attacks on white landowners as evidence that they qualify for humanitarian protection under US law.
South Africa’s government has consistently rejected those assertions, accusing Trump of misrepresenting crime and land reform for political effect. Local Afrikaner organisations, human rights groups and independent researchers have also challenged the narrative of a targeted campaign against white farmers, noting that violent crime in South Africa affects communities across racial and economic lines.
Despite those disputes, the US refugee programme has already tilted heavily toward South Africans. Through the first six months of the current fiscal year, about 4,500 South Africans were admitted as refugees, while only three Afghans were approved over the same period, according to figures cited in the internal report.
An internal US government email seen by Reuters shows that at least four of the South African refugees have since returned home, raising questions among some officials about the credibility of their claims of persecution and the robustness of post-arrival monitoring.
Afrikaners, descendants largely of Dutch, German and French settlers, make up roughly 60 percent of South Africa’s white minority, which itself accounts for just over 7 percent of the national population. While many Afrikaners report concerns about crime and economic uncertainty, thousands of white South Africans who emigrated in earlier years have chosen to return, complicating the picture of a community fleeing en masse.
The proposal to expand refugee slots is expected to trigger intense debate in Washington, where critics argue it would politicise humanitarian policy and prioritise one group over others facing war, famine and repression elsewhere.
