The first group of white South African refugees landed in the U.S. Monday under a Trump administration resettlement initiative aimed at offering protection to Afrikaner families facing violence and discrimination at home. The 59 refugees, many waving American flags, were greeted at Washington Dulles International Airport by top officials from the State Department and Department of Homeland Security.
The move follows President Donald Trump’s February executive order suspending foreign aid to South Africa and offering asylum to members of what he called a “racially disfavored” landowning minority. Speaking from the White House as the refugees arrived, Trump described the situation in South Africa as “a genocide that’s taking place” and accused the media of deliberately ignoring the crisis.
“They’re being killed, and we don’t want to see people be killed,” Trump told reporters. “Farmers are being brutally killed, and their land is being confiscated. It doesn’t matter to me what their race is — what matters is that this is wrong, and we are responding.”
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who welcomed the refugees at Dulles alongside DHS Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar, told Breitbart News the families had endured years of terror and government hostility.
“These people have been living under a shadow of violence and terror,” Landau said, citing threats of land seizures, home invasions, and rhetoric from South African politicians calling for violence against Afrikaners. “The president made it clear that Afrikaners in South Africa who were the victims of unjust racial discrimination would be welcome to come to the United States — and he’s now delivering on that promise.”
Landau emphasized that many of the new arrivals were farmers who faced losing land that had been in their families for generations under South Africa’s Expropriation Act. He also stressed that the U.S. welcomes legal immigrants who are committed to assimilating and contributing to American life.
“We underscored for them that the American people are a welcoming and generous people, and we underscore the importance of assimilation,” Landau said.
DHS Deputy Secretary Edgar echoed those sentiments, adding a personal touch. “My wife came from Iran during the regime change in the ’70s. She speaks five languages and is now a schoolteacher,” he said. “We think the American dream is possible for the South Africans. We’re super excited for them.”
Trump used the occasion to turn up the pressure on South Africa’s government, warning that the ongoing situation could complicate U.S. participation in November’s G20 summit in Johannesburg. “I don’t know how we can go unless that situation’s taken care of,” he said.
While the South African government has denied accusations of racial targeting, the Trump administration has dismissed those denials and is moving forward with a refugee program focused specifically on Afrikaners facing political and physical persecution. The administration’s stance marks a major policy shift from past decades, as it frames white South African farmers as victims of systemic injustice.
“This is about protecting innocent people,” Trump said. “And shame on the media for ignoring it.”
With more refugees expected to arrive in coming months, the White House is positioning itself as a defender of persecuted minorities — and signaling that it won’t wait for permission from the global elite to act.
