The United States is ramping up its efforts to admit white South Africans, primarily Afrikaners, as refugees, with plans to process up to 4,500 applications per month, according to a previously unreported U.S. State Department document.
This target significantly exceeds the overall refugee admissions cap of 7,500 for the entire fiscal year 2026 announced by the White House, which applies globally but prioritizes Afrikaners from South Africa under specific executive actions. The broader U.S. refugee program remains largely suspended, making this focused initiative for South Africans a key exception.
A Reuters report, based on the State Department contracting document dated January 27, highlights that the White House has communicated this objective to the department’s refugee division. Failure to achieve the capacity to safely process around 4,500 applicants monthly would mean failing to meet a stated presidential priority.
To support the increased volume, the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria is establishing facilities on its grounds, including the installation of trailers as part of a “temporary modular village” for secure refugee processing. A South African company was awarded a no-bid contract worth $772,000 to supply and install 14 prefabricated modular buildings for this purpose.
The program, which began in May 2025, has so far admitted only around 2,000 white South Africans as refugees as of late January, though the pace has accelerated in recent months. These individuals, the vast majority of whom are Afrikaners, are being resettled due to claims of unjust racial discrimination and persecution in South Africa.
Afrikaners, descendants of primarily Dutch settlers, have long raised concerns about farm attacks, land expropriation policies, and other forms of targeted violence and discrimination in post-apartheid South Africa. Supporters of the U.S. initiative argue that these Afrikaners qualify as rightful refugees fleeing genuine threats to their safety and livelihoods, warranting prioritized humanitarian protection.
South Africa has consistently maintained that claims of persecution against Afrikaners or white South Africans are unsubstantiated, rejecting suggestions that the group faces systematic danger warranting refugee status abroad.
The U.S. push reflects a deliberate policy emphasis on this community, even as admissions from other global regions face severe restrictions. With administrative backlogs causing a temporary pause in refugee arrivals through early March, approvals require high-level sign-off, underscoring the program’s strategic importance.