While Locking Out Most Refugees, Trump Admin Poised to Resettle Group of White Afrikaners in US

While the Trump administration has largely halted refugee resettlement in the United States, in the coming days the U.S. government is gearing up to welcome a group of Afrikaners whom officials have determined are refugees.

A group of 54 Afrikaners, white South Africans largely descended from Dutch settlers, have been granted refugee status and are slated to arrive in the U.S. on Monday, according to NPR, which cited three unnamed sources. There will reportedly be a press conference featuring high level officials from the U.S. Department of State and Department of Homeland Security to welcome them at the airport, which one unnamed source told the outlet would be unusual.

In February, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order announcing that the U.S. would "promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation."

Trump was referring to a law passed into South Africa earlier this year, allowing the government to take land under set circumstances, when it is not being used or when it would be in the public interest to redistribute the land. The law is meant to help rectify the economic exclusion that Black South Africans faced during apartheid. In February, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the government "has not confiscated any land."

Billionaire Elon Musk, who has played a core role in the Trump administration's efforts to slash government spending and personnel and is South African-born, has accused the government of South Africa of having "openly racist ownership laws."

According to a memo first obtained by the outlet The Lever, officials in the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement sought approval from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the "mobilization of immediate support for vulnerable incoming Afrikaner refugees," including "housing, health services, and resettlement support upon their arrival." Kennedy greenlit the request.

The Lever reporter who broke the story told NPR that officials made the request because the Trump administration has restricted the usual procedures and channels for assisting refugees.

The Lever also reported that the Office of Refugee Resettlement is planning tap funds from the Preferred Communities program in order to resettle the Afrikaners, a program that's reserved to support particularly vulnerable populations.

Sources who serve refugees in the United States indicated they are ready to help the incoming Afrikaners, but drew a contrast between the administration's readiness to accept this group while other refugee populations have been left stranded due to White House actions.

HIAS, one agency that contracts with the U.S. government to resettle refugees, is committed to welcoming Afrikaners, the organization's president, Mark Hetfield, told the Times. However, "we are profoundly disturbed that the administration has slammed the door in the face of thousands of other refugees approved by [the Department of Homeland Security] months ago, notwithstanding courts ordering the White House to let many of them in."

"Thousands of refugees from across the globe remain stranded in limbo despite being fully vetted and approved for travel, including Afghan allies, religious minorities, and other populations facing extreme violence and persecution," Timothy Young, a spokesperson for Global Refuge, which also supports refugees entering the U.S., told the Times. "We hope this development reflects a broader readiness to uphold the promise of protection for all refugees who meet longstanding legal standards, regardless of their country of origin."

Prior to Trump's first term in office, refugee resettlement generally took 18 to 24 months, according to the American Immigration Council. The Afrikaners set to arrive only had to wait three months, the Times reported. U.S. officials looked at over 8,000 requests from Afrikaners expressing interest in being resettled in the United States, also per the Times.