The Trump administration welcomed white South African refugees into the U.S. on Monday, the same day it announced it is ending deportation protections for refugees from Afghanistan.
The big picture: The coinciding moves show a split screen of President Trump’s immigration crackdown, accepting one group while revoking protections from the other.
- Since taking office, Trump has sought to get rid of some U.S. refugee admission policies, which have traditionally been focused on resettling people fleeing violence, war, famine and genocide.
Driving the news: The first flight carrying a group of South Africans granted refugee status arrived in Virginia on Monday, the State Department announced.
- The admission of Afrikaners, a white ethnic minority that dominated South African politics during apartheid, is in response to Trump’s “call to prioritize U.S. refugee resettlement of this vulnerable group facing unjust racial discrimination in South Africa,” the department said.
- The group has said they have been denied jobs and faced violence because of their race.
- More Afrikaner refugees will arrive in the U.S. in the coming months, per the State Department.
Zoom in: Asked why there’s an expedited path into the country for Afrikaners but not for others, Trump said Monday, “Because they’re being killed. And we don’t want to see people be killed,” adding, “it’s a genocide that’s taking place.”
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State of play: Over 9,000 Afghans could face deportation after the Department of Homeland Security announced the revocation of their temporary protected status on Monday.
- DHS said last month that it would not renew TPS status for Afghanistan refugees, but said Monday that termination is slated for July 12.
- Permitting Afghans to remain temporarily in the U.S. “is contrary to the national interest” of the country, the department said in its release.
- DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “determined that, overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to ongoing-armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions,” the department said.
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