U.S. Plans 17,500 Refugee Admissions, Mostly White South Africans

The State Department notified Congress on Tuesday that the United States plans to admit up to 17,500 refugees in fiscal year 2027, starting in October, up from a 7,500 cap, and that admissions will be primarily Afrikaners—white South Africans. The notice, first reported by CNN, puts expected resettlement cost at about $500 million. As of September, all but three of the 12,904 refugees admitted in fiscal year 2026 were from South Africa, versus one South African in the fiscal year before Donald Trump took office. The administration had already raised the cap to 17,500 earlier this year by emergency determination. In the report to Congress, the State Department said it anticipates Afrikaners will fully assimilate in a way that preserves taxpayer resources for U.S. citizens and does not expect other countries to resettle them. Marco Rubio last week barred South African officials accused of race-based discrimination from entering the United States, saying they had not adequately addressed concerns about racially motivated crime against Afrikaners. South African authorities have rejected claims that Afrikaners are a persecuted minority or face genocide. Refugee advocates say the focus excludes other vulnerable groups worldwide; diplomatic tensions with South Africa continue.