First Afrikaner Refugees Due to Arrive in U.S.; Charter Flight Possible

9 May 2025

The first Afrikaner refugees are set to arrive in the U.S. on Monday under President Donald Trump’s policy of granting them asylum due to racial discrimination and threats of expropriation by the South African government.

As Breitbart News reported in February, Trump extended an offer of asylum to “ethnic minority Afrikaners” and cut off aid to South Africa following the passage of that country’s Expropriation Act, which allows the government to take property — and not just farms — without compensation.

The New York Times reports:

The Trump administration is working to bring the first group of white South Africans it has classified as refugees to the United States early next week, according to officials briefed on the plans and documents obtained by The New York Times.

Although the president halted virtually all other refugee admissions shortly after he took office in January, his administration hastily put together a program to allow in white South Africans, who he claims have been the victims of racial persecution in their home country.

The administration plans to send government officials to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia for an event marking the arrival of the South Africans, who belong to the white minority Afrikaner ethnic group, according to the memo from the Department of Health and Human Services. The administration initially planned to welcome the Afrikaners on Monday, but some officials familiar with the matter cautioned that the plans remained in flux, subject to flight logistics and processing of the group.

National Public Radio reported that it is possible the government could charter a flight for the Afrikaners.

There has been a rush of some 70,000 applications for asylum from Afrikaners since Trump’s policy was announced. The U.S. embassy in Pretoria has been tasked with processing the applicants as soon as possible.