Black South Africans Also Accepted Into US Refugee Admissions Programme Alongside Afrikaners
- Over 1,000 South Africans have been welcomed in the United States of America since March 2025
- The group are part of the US Refugee Admissions Programme (USRAP) set up by Donald Trump
- The US has not only accepted Afrikaners into the country, but also applicants of other races also were welcomed
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Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent 10 years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.
WASHINGTON, DC – The US Refugee Admissions Programme (USRAP) continues to make headlines, with reports suggesting that it’s not just white Afrikaners being accepted into the United States of America.
The USRAP was established in 2025 after President Donald Trump claimed that terrible things were happening in South Africa. The US leader claimed that Afrikaners were being killed, and their properties were being taken away.
He then opened up the refugee programme, allowing white Afrikaners, who felt as if they were persecuted in South Africa, to move to the US.
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Programme accepting other races as well
While over one thousand South Africans have already been granted ‘refugee’ status in the US over the past year, it’s not just whites who were accepted.
US analyst and retired US Army Colonel Chris Wyatt shared a video on YouTube in which he claimed that 1,055 South Africans had already been accepted into the US.
He added that while President Trump had given priority to Afrikaners, other racial minorities were also accepted.
“These refuges are white, they are Afrikaners. There are also English-speaking South Africans. They are Coloured and they are Indian.
“And oh yes, even a few Black South Africans have come over. People in interracial marriages are being discriminated against, and those who have adopted black children, and so on,” Colonel Wyatt said.
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Colonel Wyatt notes that the numbers are increasing
While Trump previously indicated that 7,500 spots were earmarked for South Africans going forward, Colonel Wyatt stated that this figure could increase if the US President remained unhappy with some of the South African government’s decisions.
“That number is not set in stone; it’s an aspirational goal. It can be eclipsed. It’s been done in the past,” he said.
He also broke down the timelines of the intakes, noting that they dramatically increased as the year went on. Between May and September 2025, 355 South Africans were accepted into the US. In November 2025, 125 were accepted, but this was only because of the government shutdown in the country. In December, 595 South Africans were accepted as refugees.
Colonel Wyatt also noted that the first batch of Afrikaners was taken to the US on a private jet, but all other refugee applicants were flown on commercial airlines. He indicated that the US were also considering adding more available planes due to the increase in the number of applicants.
South African government won’t interfere in the process
According to Reuters, the South African government will not interfere in the refugee resettlement process, despite disagreeing with the reasons the programme exists.
Reuters reported that a meeting was held in late December 2026 to discuss the issue following a raid on a US processing facility in Pretoria. During the meeting, US Charge d'Affaires, Marc Dillard, received assurances that South Africa would not interfere with Trump's programme.
“We may not agree with the classification of certain South Africans as facing possible genocide, but their right to move to a destination of their choice is guaranteed, and the government of South Africa won’t interfere,” a South African official is reported as saying.
Trump to prioritise Afrikaners as refugees
Briefly News reported in December 2025 that Trump was prioritising Afrikaner refugees for acceptance into the US in the next fiscal year.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed at the time that only white Afrikaner South Africans would be accepted.
One online user also claimed that the current group of Afrikaners in America were facing challenges in securing employment.
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Source: Briefly News
