The United States is considering a roughly $335,000 research and advertising initiative after Afrikaner refugee applications fell below officials’ expectations.
- US officials are considering a research and advertising campaign aimed at Afrikaners.
- The proposal has not been confirmed as implemented.
- Trump has prioritised Afrikaner refugee resettlement since February 2025.
- South Africa rejects Washington’s allegations of racial persecution.
The proposal adds a recruitment question to a programme that has already changed the composition of America’s refugee intake.
President Donald Trump’s administration has made resettlement from South Africa a priority, while Pretoria disputes the allegations used to justify the policy.
According to The Guardian’s 15 October report, the initiative appears in an August proposal seen by the newspaper.
The policy behind the offer
Trump signed an executive order on 7 February 2025 directing US agencies to prioritise humanitarian relief, including refugee admission and resettlement, for Afrikaners he described as victims of unjust racial discrimination.
The White House order also directed a halt to assistance to South Africa, subject to specified exceptions. It cited disagreements over land policy and Pretoria’s foreign relations.
Those provisions linked refugee resettlement to a broader diplomatic confrontation, rather than creating a general immigration route for everyone wishing to leave South Africa.
The programme has nevertheless produced a substantial shift in admissions.
Business Insider Africa previously reported that South Africans accounted for 10,255 of the 10,258 refugees admitted to the US between October 2025 and July 2026.
Those figures measure people admitted, not applications submitted. They also identify nationality, rather than establishing that every South African arrival was Afrikaner.
A programme can dominate a sharply restricted refugee system while still attracting fewer applicants than its organisers expected.
Pretoria rejects persecution claims
South Africa has repeatedly challenged Washington’s account of conditions facing Afrikaners.
Speaking in New York in September, Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola rejected allegations of genocide and said they lacked supporting evidence. His government has continued to argue for engagement with the United States despite the disagreement.
According to the South African Government News Agency’s account of his remarks, Lamola maintained that Pretoria remained committed to strengthening relations with Washington.
The refugee programme has also drawn additional administrative resources.Earlier in August report detailed internal correspondence assigning US immigration anti-fraud officers to South African refugee screening and another administration priority.
Prospective applicants must still follow the existing policy. The reported advertising proposal does not introduce new eligibility rules or guarantee admission.