
The Trump administration has recently taken steps to resettle small numbers of white South Africans in the United States, claiming that the black-led South African government is engaging in anti-white policies.
In February, the Trump administration labeled Afrikaners, a people group that descended mostly from Dutch settlers who arrived in South Africa in the 1600s, as refugees following an executive order and accused the South African government of passing a law allowing for the seizure of their agricultural properties without proper compensation.
The announcement drew pushback from Christian refugee advocates who have criticized the Trump administration for halting the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and leaving tens of thousands of refugees from other countries already approved to resettle in the United States in limbo.
“What’s happening in South Africa fits the textbook definition of why the refugee program was created,” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller recently told reporters, according to The Associated Press.
“This is persecution based on a protected characteristic — in this case, race. This is race-based persecution.”
Here are four notable responses to the announcement.