White House Reportedly Set To Allocate 75% Of All Refugee Admissions To White South Africans

The White House is set to cap refugee admissions to 40,000 and allocate three-quarters of them to white South Africans, according to a new report.

Reuters detailed that Angie Salazar, the top refugee program official at the Department of Health and Human Services, discussed the figure with state-level workers in an email earlier this month.

The cap would represent a sharp drop compared to the 100,000 refugees admitted by the Biden administration in fiscal year 2024. That for non-Afrikaners (10,000) would also be lower compared to the 15-000 ceiling set by President Donald Trump for fiscal year 2021.

The outlet recalled that Trump immediately froze refugee admissions after taking office, but launched a program specifically for Afrikaners shortly after, claiming they were being subjected to discrimination and violence in the country, which is majority Black. The South African government rejected the notion.

White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said no final decisions have been made and there is time until the beginning of fiscal year 2026, which begins on October 1. "Refugee admission caps will be determined next month, and any numbers discussed at this point are pure speculation," she said.

The two governments clashed earlier this year after the South African government claimed the White House had used a misleading video in order to support its claims. Trump also claimed that a genocide was taking place, a notion rejected by President Cyril Ramaphosa. "What you are being told by those people who are opposed to transformation back in South Africa is not true," he said.

Moreover, a poll from June found that most Americans oppose prioritizing Afrikaners over others.

The survey, conducted by Yahoo News/YouGov, revealed that 61% support accepting refugees in general, yet only 36% favored accepting Afrikaners, with 31% opposed and 32% unsure. When respondents were told Afrikaners were being fast-tracked while the broader refugee program remains suspended, disapproval rose: 52% opposed this prioritization, 22% supported it, and 26% were unsure.

The poll also asked whether Afrikaners deserve refugee status more than other groups. A plurality (47%) said they are equally deserving; 24% said less deserving, and 10% said more. When asked whether Afrikaners are victims of "white genocide," a claim promoted by some U.S. and South African conservatives, 40% of respondents said no, 26% said yes, and 34% were unsure.