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The Trump administration is considering a significant expansion to its refugee program for white South Africans.
Sources told The New York Post that the refugee cap will be more than doubled to allow in as many as 10,000 more white South Africans.
After pausing refugee admissions on taking office, President Trump issued an Executive Order that prioritized the resettlement of European Afrikaners, saying they faced racial persecution in South Africa—a claim the South African government has vehemently denied.
The US Refugee Admissions Program was established in the 1980s to allow entry for hundreds of thousands of people fleeing wars in Vietnam and Cambodia.
US officials now want to expand the 7,500-person cap by 10,000.
The US allowed 4,500 white South Africans to enter the US during the first six months of this fiscal year.
The only refugees to enter the US this year who weren’t white South Africans were three Afghans, according to statistics from the State Department.
Under President Biden, the refugee cap was 125,000 a year.
The Trump admin is also reportedly considering allowing refugees of other nationalities, including religious minorities from Iran, to enter the US, as part of what’s being called the “Lautenberg Program.”
The Program derives its name from US Senator Frank Lautenberg, who introduced a budget amendment in 1989 to make it easier for Jewish refugees to resettle in the US.
Government contracting documents seen by Reuters in February said the State Department aimed to process 4,500 white South Africans a month through the refugee program.
The documents also revealed that the State Department installed a dozen trailers on US embassy property in South Africa to allow interviews with applicants to take place.
