Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

On January 20, 2025, the same day he took office for the second time, the newly re-inaugurated President Trump paused refugee admissions. 

This meant that thousands of refugees who had been vetted and cleared to enter the United States were stopped in their tracks, many of whom had been waiting years to be reunited with their family members. Thousands of those waiting are Afghans who assisted our U.S. Military interests for years in Afghanistan. Although there have been many advocates pleading with the Trump administration to re-start the refugee admissions program, including 18 senators who wrote an open letter to the Administration, there has been no budging, until now. And the ‘now' is making people scratch their heads. 

While thousands of vetted people who have been waiting for years around the world in refugee camps were suddenly prevented from coming to the United States, the Trump administration has paved the way for white South Africans - a group of Akrikaaners - to enter the United States at record speed…as refugees. 

Under United States law, a refugee is someone who:

• Is located outside of the United States

• Is of special humanitarian concern to the United States

• Demonstrates that they were persecuted or fear persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group

• Is not firmly resettled in another country

• Is admissible to the United States

South Africa as a nation had apartheid from 1948 until 1994. Under apartheid the white minority ruled the country, and although that is not the case today, white South Africans, who are about 8% of the population, own 75% of the privately-owned farmland. Despite these numbers of wealth among white Afrikaaners, President Trump has said that white Afrikaaners are “victims of a genocide,” because of violence among farm owners and a little used law that allows eminent domain of white-owned farmland in very specific situations. South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, but there is no data to suggest that white South Africans are killed at a higher rate than other ethnic populations, and South Africa's government has vehemently denied allegations of discriminatory treatment of its white minority residents.

In May 2025, a group of 59 white Afrikaaners were brought to the United States as refugees, fast-tracking the refugee admissions system in three months, while refugees waiting in the regular admissions pathway can wait up to 20 years to be resettled. There are currently 2.4 million refugees around the world hoping to be resettled in a safer country - escaping war, terrorism, and poverty.

As we as a nation try to process the current dichotomy of the refugee program, we are curious, what do you think about this situation?

If you need assistance filing for an immigration petition, you can reach us at (757) 422-8472, or send us a message on our website. You can also schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys by clicking on this link.