Who Are the Afrikaners Seeking Refuge in US?
24th May 2025
President Donald Trump raised the issue of the killings of white South Africans in that country during an Oval Office visit by its president this week.
It came as the Trump administration expedited the refugee claims of some white South Africans who feel they are no longer safe in their black-majority home country.
As of May 8, the U.S. government had granted 59 Afrikaners refugee status, and the State Department has received 8,000 inquiries.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the Trump administration’s actions when he appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.
“Can you have a different standard based upon the color of somebody’s skin? Would that be acceptable?” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., asked the secretary in what some saw as a leading question.
“I’m not the one arguing that. Apparently you are, because you don’t like the fact that they’re white and that’s why they’re coming,” Rubio replied in the contentious exchange.