A charter flight from South Africa is scheduled to land in the United States on May 12, carrying approximately 60 white South Africans who will be admitted as refugees on the basis of alleged racial discrimination in their home country.
The decision has sparked sharp debate, as it comes amid a sweeping suspension of the U.S. refugee admissions program under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Inauguration Day. The order halted new resettlement cases for most nationalities and revoked entry permissions for thousands of refugees from countries such as Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Myanmar.
“The United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans,” the executive order reads.
More than 100,000 people who had already been approved or were awaiting final vetting have now been left in limbo, their cases frozen indefinitely. Advocacy groups say the move undermines longstanding U.S. commitments to humanitarian protection.
The only group exempted from the suspension are white South Africans — specifically Afrikaners — who the Trump administration argues are fleeing “government-sponsored racial discrimination.” According to two sources familiar with the case review process, their admissions were processed faster than average. Before 2016, the typical wait time for refugee resettlement approval ranged from 18 to 24 months.
The New York Times reports that the Department of Health and Human Services has allocated housing, food, clothing, and other basic assistance for the arriving group under its refugee support program.
South African officials have sharply criticized the decision and the language used by Washington. Deputy Minister of International Relations Alvin Botes reportedly placed a call to U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau to dispute the characterization of South African citizens as refugees.
In a statement, ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said the designation was “entirely politically motivated and designed to question South Africa’s constitutional democracy — a country which has in fact endured actual racial persecution under apartheid rule.”
While South Africa remains one of the most unequal societies in the world, government officials argue that the situation cannot be compared to historic systemic oppression. According to data from the Review of Political Economy, the average white South African remains roughly 20 times wealthier than the average Black citizen. In 2024, unemployment among Black South Africans stood at 46.1%, compared to 9.2% among whites.
Despite these disparities, civil society groups in South Africa and abroad have challenged claims of state-sanctioned discrimination against whites. They warn that U.S. policy decisions framed around such claims risk legitimizing unfounded narratives and distorting the country’s post-apartheid trajectory.
