The Trump administration will limit the number of refugees it allows into the country in 2026 to just 7,500 – the lowest in history – and most of those admitted will be White South Africans, according to a notice published Oct. 30 in the federal register.
That’s a precipitous decline from the 125,000 annual refugee determination set for the previous year by former President Joe Biden under a once-bipartisan U.S. Refugee Admissions Program program, which resettles people from around the world fleeing war and persecution.
President Donald Trump quickly paused the program after taking office in January. The new determination sets the lowest cap since the program began more than four decades ago, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
The memo said that it was justified by "humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest." It added that admissions would be focused on "Afrikaners from South Africa" and "other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands."
Trump has claimed Afrikaners face persecution based on their race in the Black-majority country, allegations the South African government has denied. The administration had brought more than 130 South Africans to the U.S. by early September, Reuters reported.
