Trump Wants More Afrikaner Refugees as Families Remain Stranded Under Policies Lawyer Calls 'Cruel'

Donald Trump plans to admit up to 17,500 refugees to the United States in fiscal year 2027, with places going primarily to Afrikaners from South Africa, even as thousands of already vetted refugees from other countries remain stranded and separated from their families.

The policy, set out in a presidential determination published on 2 October, has drawn criticism from refugee lawyers who say it abandons families who spent years clearing security checks and preparing to travel.

Trump suspended most refugee arrivals when he returned to office in January 2025, then created an exception for Afrikaners under Executive Order 14204. That order, signed in February 2025, directed officials to prioritise the resettlement of Afrikaners, whom the administration says face government-sponsored racial discrimination in South Africa.

The new ceiling is far below the 125,000 annual target set under Joe Biden. During fiscal year 2026, which ended on 30 September, the US admitted 16,292 refugees against a cap of 17,500. All but five were South Africans, according to figures cited in reporting on the programme.

A System Built for Urgency

Refugee advocates say the issue is not simply the size of the quota. It is who gets access to it.

'What is lost is the focus on humanitarian need,' said Kennji Kizuka, director of policy at the International Rescue Committee. 'We built up over decades this humanitarian system that was meant to try to avoid politicised decisions around which kind of refugees to admit.'

The US Refugee Admissions Program normally involves interviews, background checks and security vetting that can take years. Some applicants had sold belongings, booked travel or completed cultural orientation before their journeys were cancelled after Trump took office.

'They were ready to go and then everything was pulled out from underneath them,' Kizuka said.

The State Department defended the approach. 'President Trump has been very clear that we are prioritising the resettlement of Afrikaners in South Africa who are escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination,' a spokesperson said, citing Executive Order 14204.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly went further, saying Trump had 'provided a lifeline for Afrikaners' and accusing the South African government and parts of the media of dismissing their experiences.

Legal Fight Over Who Gets In

The International Refugee Assistance Project, or IRAP, is challenging the policy in federal court on behalf of refugees and resettlement organisations. Its lawsuit argues that the government has refused to explain what case-by-case exceptions exist or how stranded applicants might qualify for one.

'Hundreds of thousands of refugees who are in the US refugee admissions program pipeline are impacted,' said Mevlüde Akay Alp, the group's senior litigation attorney.

'It's particularly cruel to see the way in which the government has prioritized new white Afrikaners to the program without even considering these people who had gone through years of processing and had been promised safety here in the United States.'

An appeals court largely backed the administration earlier this year, but IRAP has continued the fight in a Washington state federal court. The outcome remains unresolved.

Families Caught in Limbo

The effects are seen in individual cases. Vartush, a 70-year-old US citizen in California who asked to be identified only by her first name, fled Iran with much of her family in 2009 after religious persecution.

Her adult son remained behind because of delays in the refugee process. He and his fiancée were approved to move forward in 2024, and she reached the US at the end of that year. His travel was scheduled next. Then the policy changed.

'He suffers from depression,' Vartush said through an interpreter. 'But obviously that got even worse.' She said she calls him every day and fears for his safety as conflict in Iran continues.

In Jordan, Sara, a 60-year-old Iraqi woman, and her disabled 19-year-old son are waiting to join Sara's older son, a US citizen living in Idaho. Court records say they had been conditionally approved for resettlement, sold possessions and prepared for travel before the programme was halted.

'I wanted to make sure to be ready for the day that I received the call from the US government that we would travel to the United States,' Sara said in her court declaration.

Miriam, a Congolese mother, has been separated from her 10-year-old son in Burundi since he was left off a flight manifest in 2021. Court filings say she speaks to him daily, often several times, while lawyers seek to reunite them.

In California, Marcos has spent a decade trying to bring his Salvadoran stepdaughter to the US. Her room was prepared, clothes bought and a computer set up. The suspension took effect just before she was due to travel.

The administration says its policy reflects humanitarian concern. Families affected by the suspension remain outside the United States while their cases are unresolved.