US slashes refugee admissions to 7,500, prioritises white South Africans

The Trump administration has announced that the United States will admit only 7,500 refugees in the coming fiscal year — the lowest number in the program’s history.

Officials indicated that most of those limited slots will be reserved for white South Africans, particularly Afrikaners.

The announcement, published Thursday in the Federal Register, represents a dramatic reversal from the previous refugee ceiling of 125,000 set by the Biden administration.

The new figure marks not only a sharp numerical reduction but also a significant shift in the U.S. government’s stated priorities for humanitarian protection.

The administration offered little justification for the change. A brief memorandum accompanying the notice said only that the limit was “justified by humanitarian concerns or otherwise in the national interest,” without clarifying how the prioritisation of one group over others met that standard.

Refugee advocates and international rights groups condemned the policy as discriminatory and politically motivated.

The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) said the move “made it painfully clear that politics have taken precedence over protection.” The organisation accused the administration of “politicising a humanitarian program” by favouring white Afrikaners while leaving thousands of pre-approved refugees from other regions stranded in dangerous conditions.

“These are families who have undergone years of rigorous vetting and security checks,” IRAP said. “To exclude them now is egregious and contrary to the values the U.S. refugee program was built on.”

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, said the decision “not only lowers the ceiling but also undermines the country’s moral credibility.” She emphasised that for over four decades, the refugee program had served as a symbol of hope for those escaping war, persecution, and repression. “At a time when people are fleeing conflict in Afghanistan, Venezuela, Sudan, and elsewhere, narrowing our doors to one specific group diminishes both the program’s purpose and America’s standing in the world,” she said.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, voiced similar outrage on X (formerly Twitter). “Since its creation in 1980, the U.S. Refugee Program has provided safety to more than two million people fleeing ethnic cleansing and other horrors,” he wrote. “Now it’s being turned into a pathway for white immigration. What a tragic downfall for one of America’s most respected humanitarian institutions.”

The new refugee limit follows a February executive order in which President Trump cut financial aid to South Africa, accusing its Black-led government of engaging in “unjust racial discrimination” against white farmers.

The administration has argued that South Africa’s controversial land expropriation law, which aims to redistribute farmland without compensation, unfairly targets white landowners — a claim many international observers have disputed.

The South African government has strongly rejected the accusations, calling them “false and inflammatory.” Officials in Pretoria maintain that the land reform policy seeks to correct deep-rooted historical injustices dating back to colonial and apartheid-era dispossession.

Human rights group Action for Southern Africa pointed out that white individuals, who make up just 7.3% of South Africa’s population, still own about 72% of the country’s farms and agricultural holdings. In comparison, Black Africans — who represent more than 80% of the population — collectively own only around 4% of the land.

This is not the first time the Trump administration has slashed refugee admissions. During his first term, the annual ceiling was reduced to 18,000 for the 2020 fiscal year and further to 15,000 in 2021 — both historic lows at the time.

The newly announced figure of 7,500 represents a continuation of that downward trend and cements the administration’s retreat from America’s long-standing role as a global leader in refugee resettlement.

Humanitarian leaders warn that the latest policy will not only leave tens of thousands of displaced people in limbo but also signal to other nations that the U.S. is abandoning its commitment to international protection norms.

As Vignarajah put it: “For decades, the United States has been a beacon for those seeking safety. With this decision, that light has dimmed to its lowest point.”