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https://www.reuters.com/world/us-aims-bring-4500-white-south-africans-per-month-refugees-document-says-2026-02-26/
WASHINGTON/JOHANNESBURG, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. aims to process 4,500 refugee applications from white South Africans per month, far above President Donald Trump's stated refugee program cap, and is installing trailers on embassy property in Pretoria to support the effort, a U.S. contracting document said.
The new target, contained in a previously unreported document from the U.S. State Department dated January 27, signals a push to ramp up admissions from South Africa, while refugee applications from other areas have been severely curtailed.
Trump has said the U.S. would only admit 7,500 total refugees from around the world in fiscal year 2026, while a much higher cap of 40,000 to 60,000 was discussed internally last year. Only 2,000 white South Africans had entered the U.S. as refugees as of January 31 under a program launched in May 2025, although the pace has picked up in recent months.
The ambitious target could also face administrative delays in Washington, which in recent weeks have halted all refugee travel to the U.S., including white South Africans, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
The U.S. State Department and Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment. The White House referred questions to the State Department.
The South African Chamber of Commerce in the U.S. said last year that more than 67,000 people had expressed interest in relocating.
Trump ordered a halt to refugee admissions into the U.S. after taking office in 2025 as part of his crackdown on legal and illegal immigration. But weeks later, he launched an effort to bring in white South Africans of Afrikaner ethnicity as refugees, saying they had been violently persecuted in the majority-Black country. South Africa's government has rejected that claim, while some refugee advocates have criticized the Trump policy.