Months after the Trump administration ground U.S. refugee admissions to a halt, the program meant for people fleeing war or political persecution has restarted — but only for one group: White South Africans.
Plans are underway to fly approximately 60 Afrikaners to Dulles International Airport on a State Department-chartered plane Monday, with federal and Virginia officials preparing to receive them in a ceremonial news conference, according to documents and emails obtained by The Washington Post, as well as three government officials familiar with the preparations.
The arriving families, who are part of a group that President Donald Trump has said face racial discrimination, will then be resettled outside Virginia in at least seven states, according to those familiar with the plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share details of the preparations.
“The U.S. government is prioritizing the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees, and [the Office of Refugee Resettlement] is coordinating services to ensure they receive the support they need from the very initial days of their arrival,” Miro Marinovich, who oversees the Refugee Program Bureau at the Department of Health and Human Services, wrote in an email to other federal officials on Wednesday. “The first flight of Afrikaner refugees is set to arrive on Monday, May 12.”
A State Department spokesperson did not answer questions about the flight but confirmed in a statement that embassy officials have been “conducting interviews and processing” in accordance with a Trump executive order in February. That directive to Cabinet officials looked to promote the resettlement of Afrikaners as refugees due to a recently signed South African land redistribution law that allows for property to be taken away without compensation in some situations.
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The department’s statement said officials in general were “prioritizing consideration for U.S. refugee resettlement of Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination.” {snip}
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One of those efforts, a land redistribution law signed in January known as the Expropriation Act, prompted Trump in February to cut all foreign aid to South Africa. He claimed without evidence that the law — which, so far, has not resulted in any land seizures — was an act of discrimination against White landowners.
In his executive order, Trump also directed Cabinet officials to “prioritize humanitarian relief” for Afrikaners who are “escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination.”
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All other refugees besides the Afrikaners — the descendants of primarily Dutch settlers in South Africa — have essentially been kept from arriving since Trump’s first week in office. Government funding has been slashed to a network of nonprofit groups that help them acclimate, forcing them to lay off or furlough hundreds of case managers who assist arrivals in finding jobs, housing and other government aid.
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