With American flags in hand, white South African families were shuffled in front of cameras as they took some of their first steps on U.S. soil.
“I want you all to know that you are really welcome here,” said Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.
With cameras rolling, Landau addressed the group of white South Africans who the Trump administration is proposing to classify as refugees.
But in his first week in office, President Donald Trump shut America’s door to refugees from all around the world — including victims of genocide and war.
Now, the president is making an exception for white South Africans. He ordered refugee status for the group to be fast-tracked, claiming they’re victims of racial persecution.
“The president made it clear that Afrikaners in South Africa who are the victims of unjust racial discrimination would be welcome to come to the United States, and he’s now delivering on that promise,” Landau said.
Afrikaners are a South African ethnic group descended from mostly Dutch settlers and dominated South Africa’s politics and agriculture for generations.
As South Africa continues to address years of Apartheid, a new law gives the government there the ability to seize private land without compensation.
After Trump got into a public dispute with South Africa’s president, he welcomed white landowners to the U.S.
Some U.S. groups that support refugees have suggested the Trump administration is only helping the Afrikaners because they’re white.
The South African Government called the move purely political and says the Afrikaners are not refugees.
Laura Thompson Osuri, the executive director of Homes Not Borders, agreed.
“Just to show our displeasure with what they’re doing right here […] because they’re not real refugees,” Osuri said.
The president directed the Episocal Church’s migration services to help resettle the Afrikaners, and instead, the Church announced Monday it’s ending its migration program.
It said, in part, “As Christians, we must be guided not by political vagaries… Jesus tells us to care for the poor and vulnerable as we would care for him, and we must follow that command. Right now, what that means is ending our participation in the federal government’s refugee resettlement program…”
The State Department said the Afrikaners will be resettled across several states, but not in D.C., Maryland or Virginia.
“Most refugees come on normal airlines,” Thompson said. “They, you know, IOM sponsors the flight, they go through UNHCR — they haven’t gone through any of those means at all, so this is clearly not following the protocol.”
As questions circle whether the administration is helping people who truly need help, or helping people because of the color of their skin, Trump said Monday the carve-out was not race related.
There are also questions about what — if anything — the Trump administration’s relationship with Elon Musk might have to do with the arrival of South African refugees.
Musk grew up in South Africa, and he donated millions to help get Trump elected. Musk shared a post on X earlier this year that claimed white South Africans are persecuted for their race.
