The Trump administration has announced it will admit no more than 7,500 refugees to the United States over the next year, the lowest cap in modern U.S. history while giving priority to white South Africans, according to a federal notice published Thursday. The new ceiling marks a drastic reduction from the 125,000 refugee limit set under former President Joe Biden, signaling a sharp reversal of U.S. humanitarian policy. The administration said the decision was “justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest,” but provided no further explanation.
Refugee policy shift
In January 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), citing national security and public safety. The latest cap continues a pattern seen during his first term, when refugee admissions were cut to 15,000 in 2021 — the lowest at the time. According to the Federal Register notice, the new refugee quota will be “primarily” allocated to Afrikaner South Africans and others described as “victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands.”
Controversy with South Africa
The move follows months of diplomatic tension between Washington and Pretoria. In February, Trump suspended key U.S. aid to South Africa and offered resettlement to Afrikaners, who are largely white descendants of Dutch and French settlers. The decision triggered outrage in South Africa. Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was expelled from Washington after accusing Trump of promoting “white victimhood” and “mobilizing a supremacist narrative.” In a May Oval Office meeting, Trump confronted President Cyril Ramaphosa, alleging that white farmers in South Africa were being “killed and persecuted.” The White House even screened a video said to depict “mass killings” of white farmers footage that was later revealed to show symbolic crosses from a protest years earlier. Just days before that meeting, the U.S. granted asylum to 60 Afrikaners, further escalating tensions between the two nations.
South Africa denies persecution claims
The South African government has strongly rejected claims that white South Africans are being systematically targeted, calling them “false and politically motivated.” Officials argue that the violence affecting farmers reflects broader crime challenges in the country, not racial persecution. Human rights organizations have also warned that the U.S. refugee policy risks undermining global humanitarian principles by introducing racial and political bias into asylum criteria.
