Critics say Trump favours white South African refugees over Afghan allies
The Trump administration’s decision to admit 17,500 white South Africans next year has triggered a fresh wave of criticism in the United States, with critics saying the policy is being pursued while the path to resettlement remains closed for thousands of other refugees, including Afghan partners of US forces.
Grace Meng, a Democratic member of the US House of Representatives, described the decision as “discriminatory, costly and contrary to humanitarian priorities.” In an official statement and on her X account, she wrote that the approach justifies the exclusion of thousands of other asylum seekers who have spent years in uncertainty in third countries such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
According to documents submitted to Congress, the Trump administration plans to spend $500m on resettling this group. Critics say the move continues a policy that has steered the US refugee programme away from its original mission and focused it on admitting a specific group.
The Trump administration has claimed that white South Africans, mostly Afrikaners, face “land confiscation, structural discrimination and targeted violence.” Grace Meng also said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the policy by saying these refugees “would integrate into society faster than others.”
Meng described the argument as “indirect, vague and mysterious,” saying such remarks effectively push other asylum seekers out of US priorities. She stressed that America’s moral and security priority should be to support allies who fought alongside US troops and now face serious danger.
In response to these claims, the South African government has repeatedly insisted that there is no organised policy against white people in the country. Officials there have said sporadic violence in rural areas is part of South Africa’s broader crime crisis, not a targeted campaign against this group.
According to reports, nearly all refugee pathways for other nationalities have been closed over the past two years, and the only active programme has been the admission of Afrikaners. Official data also shows that in fiscal 2026, almost all refugees admitted to the United States were from South Africa, while more than 120,000 approved asylum seekers from other countries remained waiting because of the suspension of the programme.
Aid organisations and human rights groups have also criticised the policy. Naomi Steinberg, deputy chief of HIAS, said the decision has turned the rescue route for thousands of people trapped by war and persecution into a political tool for resettling one specific group.
The US refugee programme has traditionally been intended to admit people who face war, persecution or serious threats in their home countries. The new debate over the admission of Afrikaners has now become one of the most contentious immigration issues in the United States.
