Report Shows That Almost All Refugees Arriving in the US Are South Africans
- Nearly all US refugees in recent months are South Africans, sparking heated debates online
- US officials link increased refugee numbers to claims of genocide against Afrikaners in South Africa
- Afrikaner refugees also face significant hardships adapting to life in the United States
Tebogo Mokwena, affiliated with Briefly News, covered local and international politics, political analysis, and interviews in South Africa for Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News during his 10 years of experience.
Source: Getty Images
USA– Almost all of the refugees who streamed into the United States for the past five months are South Africans. This is according to a report by a US department, which showed that only one refugee was not South African.
United States Journalist Geoffrey York shared the report on his @geoffreyyork X account on 15 April 2026. The US Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration provided the data. It showed that a total of 4,499 refugees were resettled in the United States.
A look at the five-page report shows that, except for one Afghanistan refugee, every other refugee is a South African. The figure is close to the target the United States reportedly set in 2026. According to Reuters, the US stated that it would process 4,500 refugee applications from Afrikaners and White South Africans for its US refugee programme. York, a Johannesburg-based journalist, slammed the programme’s numbers. He pointed out that none of the refugees were from war zones, famine zones, or other crises around the world. He called the alleged white genocide “fake”.
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View his tweet on X here:
The United States President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order in February 2025 classifying Afrikaners as refugees and offering them safe passage to become United States citizens. Trump accused the South African government of genocide against Afrikaners, despite there being no large numbers of deaths of Afrikaners. The government has consistently refuted Trump's claims of genocide and the forceful grabbing of land.
Source: Getty Images
Netizens debate the report
Netizens in the comment sections shared fiery opinions.
Mandy Van Willingh said sarcastically:
“You shouldn't be complaining about this. Someone might alert the ICE people and get them deported.”
Dee shared:
“New filings in Pacito v. Trump allege a whites-only exception to the current refugee ban, allowing 3,000 Afrikaners in while 120,000 others remain in limbo. Resettlement agencies are calling it a discriminatory rewrite of US policy.”
Hendrik Strydom said:
“Within South Africa, only the lefties are pushing the genocide narrative. There are 0 posts by sober moderates and even conservatives who claim that there is.”
Afrikaner refugees face hardship in the US
In a related article, Briefly News reported that Afrikaners who relocated to the US are reportedly facing hardships. A clip by US media giant CBS showed that the Afrikaners experienced challenges after arriving in the US.
The Free Press reported that refugees receive $2,000, which is spent mostly on rent, leaving them with little for food or other necessities. They reportedly do not have enough food or the right clothing for the weather.
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Source: Briefly News
