Donald Trump has made it clear that refugees aren’t welcome in the United States—unless they’re white.
Despite suspending all refugee admissions into the country as soon as he was sworn in this past January, the president and his state department bros made an exception and welcomed a planeload of 59 white Afrikaners Monday, many of whom are farmers of Dutch descent who settled in South Africa. They were greeted by Deputy Secretary of State Christoper Landau and Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar with open arms.
“We respect what you have had to deal with these past few years,” Landau said to the families as they waved small American flags and donned camouflage jackets.
Young Afrikaner refugees from South Africa hold American flags on May 12 at Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
Landau joined Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in boosting the false narrative that white settlers in South Africa have been enduring racial discrimination and even violence from the government and Black South Africans.
“No one should have to fear having their property seized without compensation or becoming the victim of violent attacks because of their ethnicity,” the state department wrote in a Monday press release.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, however, has been quick to give the Trump administration a reality check.
“Those people who have fled are not being persecuted, they are not being hounded, they are not being treated badly,” he said during a panel at the Africa CEO Forum in Cote d’Ivoire on Monday.
“They are leaving ostensibly because they don’t want to embrace the changes that are taking place in our country in accordance with our constitution,” Ramaphosa said.
The South African government is implementing the Expropriation Act, which will redistribute some land owned by white South African farmers to Black South African farmers.
Due to the country’s racist apartheid policy, Black farmers were driven into extreme poverty and were unable to own land as a minority of white settlers grew the country’s crops. Today, just 4% of private land is owned by Black people, even though they make up 81% of the country’s population. The controversial land reform program seeks to balance the scales that created generational poverty among South Africa’s Black citizens.
Because of this and South Africa’s pro-Palestinian stance on the Israel-Hamas war, Trump has also cut funding to the country that provided medical care for patients suffering from HIV and AIDS.
Rubio also gave Emrahim Rasool, South Africa's ambassador to the United States, the boot from the country for his less than favorable statements about his Dear Leader.
Related | US boots South African ambassador for saying mean things about Trump
"South Africa's Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country. Emrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS. We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA," a hysterical Rubio tweeted in March.
Of course, as Trump and his team are celebrating over saving white farmers from “racial discrimination,” they’re also eager to kick out Afghan refugees who came to the U.S. fleeing deadly conditions of Taliban rule.
According to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Afghan citizens are safe to return despite the country still being under the rule of the violent militant group.
“We’ve reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation,” Noem said in a press release obtained by The Washington Post Monday, referring to Temporary Protected Status. The program allowed people fleeing war-torn countries, natural disasters or other challenges to legally reside in the U.S.
“Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer prevents them from returning to their home country,” Noem said.
Landau was blatant when explaining why white Afrikaners are considered an exception to Trump’s ban on refugees.
“Some of the criteria are making sure [...] that they could be assimilated easily into our country,” he said in response to a reporter’s question.
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Q: There are many people who fit the criteria of fleeing persecution. Afghans for example. But they're being denied refugee status. So why such an exception for the Afrikaners?
TRUMP ADMIN OFFICIAL: One of the criteria is making sure they can be assimilated easily into our country
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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) May 12, 2025 at 11:31 AM
In other words, the Trump administration’s view of which people are facing danger and deserve refuge in the U.S. is extremely subjective.
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