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asylum-seekers
Trump to Slash Refugee Numbers to Record Low, With White South Africans Taking Most Spots
While the president spreads false claims about a "genocide" against white people in South Africa, "more than 100,000 refugees from Afghanistan, Sudan, Ukraine, etc." are stranded in refugee camps.
Oct 04, 2025
Reports of the Trump administration's plan to slash refugee admissions to an even lower number than previously stated—with the majority of spots given to white South Africans descended from French and Dutch colonists who arrived in the country in the 17th century—represents "a moral failure and a dark hour for our country," according to one refugee policy expert.
As The New York Times reported late Friday, a presidential determination dated September 30 and signed by President Donald Trump showed that the president aims to cap refugee admissions at 7,500 in 2026—a significant decrease from the 40,000 that he previously discussed with officials, and from the 125,000 cap set by the Biden administration last year.
A White House official told the Times that the refugee limit would be final only after the administration consults with Congress, as it's required to do under the Refugee Act. They added that consultation with the House and Senate Judiciary committees will be possible only after Democrats and Republicans reach a deal to fund the government and end the shutdown that began October 1.
But advocates and Democrats have pointed out in recent days that the White House's deadline for consulting with lawmakers on refugee limits for next year was September 30, before the shutdown began.
As the deadline passed this week, Democratic leaders said that "in open defiance of the law, the Trump administration has failed to schedule the legally required consultation."
“Despite repeated outreach from Democratic and Republican committee staff, the Trump administration has completely discarded its legal obligation, leaving Congress in the dark and refugees in limbo," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee; Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement; Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee; and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), ranking member for the Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration.
The president effectively suspended the US State Department's 40-year-old refugee resettlement program on his first day in office. The program requires refugees fleeing conflict, famine, and persecution to pass background checks and medical exams before entering the country, and often involves yearslong waits in refugee camps before they are resettled in the US.
"What began as a so-called ‘suspension’ has now stretched into an eight-month shutdown, betraying the nation’s promise as a refuge for the oppressed," said the Democrats. "Nearly 130,000 people facing persecution abroad who have already passed the rigorous vetting requirements of our refugee program have been abandoned by this administration, left to languish in refugee camps around the world after being given the promise of safety and a new life in America."
But for white South African farmers, also known as Afrikaners, Trump carved out an exception earlier this year that will reportedly be extended into 2026—allowing them "to skip the line and rigorous vetting as countless others are shut out of the US," said the Democrats.
Trump and his billionaire megadonor, South Africa-born Elon Musk, have helped spread false claims that the country's democratically elected Black government has systematically oppressed white Afrikaners, who enforced a racist apartheid system until 1994, and has allowed white farmers to be murdered—saying white people in the country face a "genocide."
White South Africans hold 20 times the wealth of Black people in the country despite making up just 7% of the population, and control the vast majority of land.
"Poor Black citizens of South Africa are far more likely to be victims of violent crime and murder than white people," wrote Joe Walsh at Current Affairs last year, noting that during one period, "when there were 49 murders on farms across the entire country, one of Cape Town’s predominantly Black townships called Khayelitsha recorded 179 murders, at a rate of approximately 116 per 100,000 people."
While Trump plans to open the door to thousands of white South Africans, said Danilo Zak, director of policy at Church World Service, "more than 100,000 refugees from Afghanistan, Sudan, Ukraine, etc., who have been through years of vetting, approved, [are] now left stranded."
With Trump's determination on refugee numbers "already signed and dated," said Zak, it's impossible for Trump to have completed an "appropriate consultation" with Congress to approve the abandonment of refugees across the world.
Trump previously set a record low number for refugee admissions during his first term, imposing a cap of 15,000 slots for resettlement.
The new plan was reported as the US Supreme Court ruled for the second time in four months in favor of allowing the president to revoke Temporary Protected Status for 300,000 Venezuelans, putting them at risk for deportation—despite an earlier ruling by a federal judge who found Trump had acted illegally when he moved to revoke TPS.
"This decision threatens not only the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who will lose legal status and face deportation,"
said Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, "but also a basic sense of fairness."
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Led by Demise in US Under Trump, 'Democracy Around the World Continues to Weaken'
“Democracy faces a perfect storm of autocratic resurgence and acute uncertainty," said Kevin Casas-Zamora of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
Sep 11, 2025
A new report from a Swedish think tank warns that democracy is backsliding all across the world, led by the US under President Donald Trump.
The Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) on Wednesday published findings from its annual Global State of Democracy report that found democracy is declining in 94 countries around the world, representing 54% of all nations the think tank analyzed.
"Democracy faces a perfect storm of autocratic resurgence and acute uncertainty, due to massive social and economic changes," Kevin Casas-Zamora, secretary-general of IDEA, told The Guardian. "To fight back, democracies need to protect key elements of democracy, like elections and the rule of law, but also profoundly reform government so that it delivers fairness, inclusion, and shared prosperity."
The US has shown itself to be in a particularly precarious position, as IDEA ranked the country well behind several other nations that are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in the categories of rights, representation, and the rule of law.
The report includes data only from 2024, before the start of Trump's second term, but it makes note of further negative developments that have occurred since his return to power.
"The rule of law has come under intensified pressure under the second Trump administration in the USA," IDEA writes. "Since Trump took office in January 2025, his administration has issued a series of executive orders attempting to overhaul key aspects of governance, including the day-to-day functioning of the federal civil service, the country’s migration and asylum systems, and the balance of power between federal and state-level governments."
IDEA adds that the administration has at times "disregarded or circumvented" court rulings, which has led to concerns about the rule of law in the US crumbling even further.
"The degree to which the balance of powers is respected in the months and years to come will be a key determinant of whether Rule of Law indicators in the USA remain resilient or continue to deteriorate," the report stated.
In a separate interview with German publication Deutsche Welle, Casas-Zamora explained why developments in the US are dangerous not just to American citizens, but citizens in democracies around the planet.
"Some of the things that we saw during the election at the end of last year and in the first few months of 2025 are fairly disturbing," he said.
The first months of Trump's term were characterized by his attempts to seize constitutional powers from Congress by impounding federal funds, challenging the judiciary's right to rule against the administration's actions, and blatantly disobeying court orders.
"Since what happens in the US has this ability to go global," said Casas-Zamora, "this does not bode well for democracy globally."
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Trump Asylum Crackdown Dealt Major Blow in 'Hugely Important' Court Ruling
"Nothing in the Constitution grants the president the sweeping authority asserted," wrote a U.S. district judge.
Jul 02, 2025
President Donald Trump's crackdown on asylum-seekers was dealt a major blow on Wednesday when U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss ruled that the administration had vastly overstepped its legal authority with an executive order issued on the first day of his second term.
Politico reports that Moss found that Trump's January 20 executive order slapping new restrictions on asylum-seekers even if they arrive at proper points of entry exceeded his powers as outlined by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which the judge described as containing the "sole and exclusive" procedure for properly deporting undocumented immigrants. In fact, Moss went so far as to say that Trump had established "an alternative immigration system" with his asylum order.
Moss—appointed to the district court in Washington, D.C. by former President Barack Obama—also didn't buy the administration's rationale that such drastic measures were necessary due to the emergency of an "invasion" at the southern border.
"Nothing in the INA or the Constitution grants the president... the sweeping authority asserted in the proclamation and implementing guidance," the judge wrote. "An appeal to necessity cannot fill that void."
Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who argued the case in court, praised the ruling as "a hugely important decision" that will "save the lives of families fleeing grave danger" and "reaffirms that the president cannot ignore the laws Congress has passed and the most basic premise of our country's separation of powers."
The original Trump order not only barred asylum-seekers who showed up at the border outside the proper points of entry, but also mandated that asylum-seekers at the points of entry provide additional documentation beyond what is required by law, including medical histories and information about potential past criminal records.
Moss' order is not going into effect immediately as he is giving the administration two weeks to prepare an appeal.
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