The Trump administration is proposing to increase the refugee admissions ceiling for fiscal year 2026 to 17,500 for White South Africans, according to an emergency determination sent to Congress.
Last year, the administration reduced the annual refugee admissions cap to 7,500, focusing primarily on White South Africans. The move marked a sharp cut from the previous year’s ceiling of 125,000 and excluded some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.
Trump has defended the administration’s decision to resettle Afrikaners in the United States, claiming that “a genocide is taking place” in South Africa and alleging that “White farmers are being brutally killed and their land confiscated.” South African authorities have strongly rejected those claims, while investigations into allegations of a White “genocide” in the country have found no evidence to support them.
The emergency determination also referenced remarks made by the South African president and an incident last year in which South African authorities questioned US personnel assigned to the country.
“This escalating hostility heightens the risks to Afrikaners in South Africa, who are already subject to far-reaching government-sponsored race-based discrimination,” the report stated. “For these reasons, a revised ceiling of 17,500 is justified by grave humanitarian concerns and in the national interest as detailed in E.O. 14204 and will further the U.S. foreign policy interests described in that order.”
Under US law, the administration is required to consult Congress on the annual refugee admissions ceiling.
