Trump administration to admit just 7,500 refugees next year, mostly white South Africans
The Trump administration is set to limit the number of refugees admitted to the United States next year to just 7,500 – with most of those slots expected to be filled by white South Africans.
This low figure marks a significant reduction after the U.S. had previously allowed hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and persecution from around the world to enter.
The news was released by the administration on Thursday with a notice in the Federal Registry.
No explanation was provided for the reduction in numbers, which is a stark decrease from last year’s cap set by the Biden administration at 125,000.
The Associated Press had previously reported that the administration was contemplating admitting as few as 7,500 refugees, predominantly white South Africans.
The government memo stated only that admitting the 7,500 refugees during the 2026 fiscal year was “justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest”.
This figure had been previously revealed after plans-related documents were leaked.
The announcement rapidly attracted criticism from refugee organizations, with the International Refugee Assistance Project stating: “This determination makes it painfully clear that the Trump administration values politics over protection.”
“By favoring Afrikaners while continuing to bar thousands of refugees who have already been vetted and approved, the administration is once again politicizing a humanitarian program. It is egregious to exclude refugees who completed years of rigorous security checks and are currently stuck in perilous and precarious situations,” the statement continued.
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, CEO of the US-based Global Refuge, raised ethical concerns about the decision.
She stated: “This decision doesn’t just lower the refugee admissions ceiling. It lowers our moral standing. For more than four decades, the US refugee program has been a lifeline for families fleeing war, persecution, and repression. At a time of crisis in countries ranging from Afghanistan to Venezuela to Sudan and beyond, focusing the majority of admissions on one group undermines the program’s purpose as well as its credibility.”
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, posted on X.
He wrote: “Since the US Refugee Program was created in 1980, it has admitted over two million people fleeing ethnic cleansing and other horrors. Now it will be used as a pathway for white immigration. What a downfall for a crown jewel of America’s international humanitarian programs.”
In February, Trump signed an executive order to cut financial aid to South Africa after he accused its Black-led government of “unjust racial discrimination” against white Afrikaners, a minority group descended from Dutch and French colonial settlers.
The Trump administration has consistently claimed that the South African government is enacting anti-white policies through a new land expropriation law that allegedly targets Afrikaners’ land.
The South African government has refuted these claims, labeling them false and denying U.S. allegations that Afrikaners are victims of racially motivated violence in rural areas.
Across South Africa, 72% of farms and agricultural properties are owned by white individuals, who represent 7.3% of the country’s population, according to Action for Southern Africa. In contrast, Black Africans, who account for 81.4% of the population, own roughly 4% of the land.
Thursday’s announcement is not the first time Trump has reduced refugee resettlement numbers.
During his first term, in 2020, Trump set a cap of 15,000 refugees for the 2021 fiscal year. The previous year, in 2019, he had already lowered the limit to 18,000 for the 2020 fiscal year.
Head of Investigations
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