On Monday 12 May 2025, a group of white South African nationals arrived in Washington DC after having been granted refugee status by the Trump administration. Waving US flags, the women, men, and children were greeted by US deputy secretary of state, Christopher Landau, and deputy secretary of homeland security, Troy Edgar. The decision to warmly welcome these individuals, while simultaneously taking extreme measures to remove any and all protections for non-white individuals seeking refuge in the country, reaffirms President Donald Trump’s blatant racial preference.

It was back in February when Trump first announced that he would be cutting financial aid to South Africa, accusing the country’s government of “unjust racial discrimination” against white Afrikaners and subsequently offering them asylum in the US. Now, just a few months later, this process has officially begun.

According to The Guardian, on the same day that the South African group arrived in the US to open arms, Trump’s government ended legal protections that had temporarily protected Afghans from deportation. Their reasoning? That the ‘security situation’ in Afghanistan had improved. Mind you, let’s not forget that Afghanistan is still very much under the absolute control of the Taliban.

One of the primary reasons these nationals were granted refugee status was due to the somewhat misguided belief that white South Africans are currently facing extreme persecution and discrimination—a reality so severe that it requires immediate relocation.

Don’t tell me this isn’t racism.

“The Trump administration is saying that essentially these White South Africans assimilate better & they’re also not as much of a security risk.”

South Africa is made up of 81% Black people and 7% White people, yet all of these refugees Trump… pic.twitter.com/Vhhv02oQfE

— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) May 12, 2025

The president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, reportedly tried to communicate with Trump that these concerns were not based in fact. Indeed, the foreign power explained to the US president that he had been fed false information about white South Africans being discriminated against, specifically from people who disagreed with government efforts to redress the racial inequalities in the country.

A number of netizens have spoken about their outrage regarding this decision on X, specifically pointing out the absurdity of Trump granting this small group of individuals refuge amid ongoing decisions from the Republican administration to suspend a number of refugee settlements programmes, negatively impacting over 100,000 people. 

White supremacy is when Donald Trump bans 1600+ vetted Afghan refugees who helped the USA against the Taliban, but proudly accepts white Afrikaaner South Africans as refugees to the USA for no apparent reason except they’re white.

Reminder that Trump is pro-apartheid & racist.

— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) May 12, 2025

Just so we’re clear: Afghanis no longer have refugee protection. The Taliban will absolutely torture and kill these females if they return to Afghanistan, but a bunch of white entitled South Africans got to skip to the front of the line due to Caucasian discrimination.. pic.twitter.com/6q6Z6CS62a

— Irishrygirl (@irishrygirl) May 12, 2025

Isn’t it interesting that MAGA is for mass migration when it’s white South Africans?

— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) May 12, 2025

One particularly poignant post referenced the fact that “in 1913, Black South Africans were banned from owning land. 93% of farmland was handed to white settlers. Entire communities were bulldozed for white expansion. Fast forward: white South Africans make up 7% of the population, yet still own 72% of private farmland.”

Karoline Leavitt says white South Africans are fleeing to the U.S. because of “racial persecution.”

Let’s talk about persecution. In 1913, Black South Africans were banned from owning land. 93% of farmland was handed to white settlers. Entire communities were bulldozed for white… pic.twitter.com/B3LXIFbLA2

— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) May 10, 2025

This racial bias becomes even clearer when you hear the secretary of state’s reasoning for prioritising white South African nationals. In Landau’s words, these individuals would “be easily assimilated into our country.” The official clearly doesn’t feel the same way about Afghan refugees.

Laura Thompson Osuri, executive director of Homes Not Borders, a refugee care nonprofit in Maryland, allegedly stood in the airport check-in area holding a sign that read: “Refugee. Noun. A person who has been forced to leave his or her country due to persecution, war or violence. Afrikaners are not refugees.”

Irrespective of the facade the Trump administration wants to force down the public’s throat, this decision sends another powerful message: asylum matters, as long as you’re white and fit the societal mould Republicans deem appropriate.