White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugees

Afrikaner refugees arrive in U.S. under Trump order — White South Africans 'have remained by far the most privileged race since apartheid ended 30 years ago'

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

What happened

Trump administration officials Monday welcomed the first 59 white South Africans classified as refugees under an exception President Donald Trump made to his near-total ban on admitting fugitives from war and persecution. Trump's fast-tracked carveout for the Afrikaners, who arrived in Washington, D.C., on a U.S.-funded charter flight, drew outrage from refugee advocates and prompted the Episcopal Church to end its decades-old refugee resettlement partnership with the federal government.

Who said what

Trump said Monday he was admitting Afrikaners as refugees because of the "genocide that's taking place" in South Africa, where "white farmers are being brutally killed, and their land is being confiscated." That characterization, The Associated Press said, "has been strongly disputed by South Africa's government, experts and even the Afrikaner group AfriForum." Claiming white South Africans are persecuted is a "total absurdity," Afrikaner author Max du Preez told the BBC.

White South Africans, who make up about 7% of the country's population, "have remained by far the most privileged race since apartheid ended 30 years ago," Reuters said. They still own three-quarters of private land and "about 20 times the wealth of the Black majority," but claims of Black discrimination against Afrikaners have been "repeated so often in online chatrooms that it has become orthodoxy for the far right," echoed by Trump's "white South African–born ally" Elon Musk.

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"Relatively few" of the 2.7 million Afrikaners "have indicated they're keen to take Trump up on his offer of refuge," The Wall Street Journal said.

What next?

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday she was ending temporary protected status for Afghan refugees on July 12, claiming an "improved security situation" and "stabilizing economy" in Taliban-run Afghanistan. It is "painful to watch one group of refugees, selected in a highly unusual manner, receive preferential treatment" over "brave people who worked alongside our military in Iraq and Afghanistan and now face danger at home because of their service to our country," Episcopal Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe said.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.