President Trump Calls for Resettlement of White South Africans in the United States

On February 7, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order (EO) to halt foreign aid to South Africa and “promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation.” The EO directs the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to “prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination.”

Groups representing some Afrikaners, who are members of South Africa’s white minority who speak Afrikaans and are descended from predominantly Dutch settlers as well as French, German, and others, said they want to stay in South Africa. Kallie Kriel, CEO of the AfriForum, an Afrikaner lobbying group, said, “We have to state categorically: We don’t want to move elsewhere.” Non-Afrikaner white South Africans, who were not referred to in the EO, are of British descent or from other backgrounds.