US aims to bring in 4,500 white South Africans per month as refugees: document

The US aims to process 4,500 refugee applications from white South Africans per month, far above President Donald Trump’s stated refugee programme cap, and is installing trailers on embassy property in Pretoria to support the effort, a US contracting document says. The new target, contained in a previously unreported document from the US state department dated January 27, signals a push to ramp up admissions from South Africa, while refugee applications from other areas have been severely curtailed. Trump has said the US would only admit a total of 7,500 refugees from around the world in the 2026 fiscal year, while a much higher cap of 40,000 to 60,000 was discussed internally last year.

Only 2,000 white South Africans had entered the US as refugees as of January 31 under a programme launched in May 2025, though the pace has picked up in recent months. The US state department and department of homeland security did not respond to requests for comment. The White House referred questions to the state department.

The South African Chamber of Commerce in the US said last year more than 67,000 people had expressed interest in relocating. [South Africa ‘will not interfere’ with US refugee programme for white AfrikanersOpens in new window] Trump ordered a halt to refugee admissions into the US after taking office in 2025 as part of his crackdown on legal and illegal immigration. However, weeks later, he launched an effort to bring in white South Africans of Afrikaner ethnicity as refugees, claiming they had been violently persecuted in the majority-black country.

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South Africa’s government has rejected the claim, while some refugee advocates have criticised the Trump policy. The contracting document, posted to a US government database on Wednesday, explains the rationale for awarding the contract for the trailers without a competitive bidding process, stressing an urgent need for a secure site. An immigration raid by South African authorities on a previous US refugee processing site at a commercial property in Johannesburg had forced the government to consider a more secure location, it said, after “operations were compromised”.

“The inability to safely process about 4,500 applicants per month, an objective communicated to (the US state dpartment’s refugee division) from the White House, would result in failure to meet a presidential priority,” the document said. South African foreign ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said his government would not interfere with the US programme if it remained within legal boundaries, while reiterating Pretoria’s rejection of Trump’s claims about white South Africans.

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