(UNITED STATES) President Trump has set a new refugee admission cap of 7,500 for fiscal year 2026, the lowest on record, and his administration says the vast majority of those places will go to white South Africans. The policy was announced in a notice published on October 30, 2025, and marks a steep cut from the 125,000 ceiling set under Former President Biden.

A White House document posted to the Federal Register said the decision was “justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest,” without offering further explanation about the size of the reduction or the choice to prioritize one nationality. BBC News reported:

“In the document which was published on the website of the Federal Register, they said explicitly that of those 7,500 refugees, the vast majority would be white South Africans.”
The move immediately drew criticism from refugee advocates, who said it sharply narrows a program built to respond to urgent protection needs around the world.

The change follows a January 2025 executive order in which President Trump suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, known as USRAP, saying the pause was needed to prioritize “national security and public safety.” That suspension set the stage for a broader overhaul of admissions and vetting procedures. The newly announced refugee admission cap of 7,500 now formalizes the administration’s target for the next fiscal year and specifies how admissions will be distributed, with white South Africans designated as the primary beneficiaries.

BBC News also said:

“The Trump administration repeat claims … that white South Africans are facing genocide in their country.”
The administration did not provide evidence for that claim in the notice outlining the cap and allocations, and the document did not detail how remaining slots—after those assigned to white South Africans—would be apportioned among other nationalities or regions. Refugee advocates interviewed by the BBC said the plan skews the global resettlement system in ways that leave many at-risk groups without a path to safety in the United States.

Advocates told the BBC:

“this is is very unfair to other persecuted minorities around the world … they’re essentially not allowed to come as refugees and the Trump administration has opened the door very specifically to this one group of refugees from South Africa.”
They pointed to Afghans and people from the Middle East, including former U.S. partners and others with long-standing protection claims, as groups squeezed hardest by the shift. With the refugee admission cap set at 7,500 overall, even modest carve-outs for one group can effectively close off access for many others, resettlement groups say.

The White House did not publish a detailed rationale beyond the brief line that the cap and allocations were “justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.” That language is commonly used in refugee policy notices but usually accompanies a wider regional breakdown and a narrative explaining priorities, including specific conflict zones, protracted displacement crises, or urgent protection needs. This time, the document’s emphasis that the vast majority of places will be allocated to white South Africans stands out as the most concrete detail in an otherwise sparse justification.

Under Former President Biden, the annual ceiling was set at 125,000, reflecting an effort to rebuild a program that had been reduced in prior years and to respond to global displacement needs. By contrast, the current reduction to 7,500 represents a dramatic shift in both scale and focus. The lower ceiling, paired with a national allocation favoring white South Africans, reshapes the flow of humanitarian admissions to the United States at a time when conflicts in multiple regions continue to drive displacement. The administration’s notice did not say how many white South Africans might qualify, when processing would begin, or how the government would handle cases already in the pipeline from other countries.

BBC News’ reporting underscored what the administration’s own document spelled out in plain terms:

“In the document which was published on the website of the Federal Register, they said explicitly that of those 7,500 refugees, the vast majority would be white South Africans.”
That statement has become the focal point of debate over how Washington is defining humanitarian need and national interest in this phase of U.S. refugee policy. The lack of supporting data in the notice, and the absence of public evidence behind the genocide claim cited by the BBC, have left advocates warning that the policy could further politicize a system meant to operate on clear protection criteria.

The January order suspending USRAP set a tone for 2025 by halting new entries and reviewing vetting procedures. At the time, the administration framed the pause as a security measure grounded in “national security and public safety.” The new refugee admission cap of 7,500 for fiscal year 2026 completes that pivot, translating the suspension into a long-term numerical ceiling and an explicit admission priority that narrows the program’s global footprint. Resettlement agencies say the practical impact is that Afghans tied to U.S. missions, Syrians displaced by war, and persecuted minorities across multiple regions could find themselves waiting indefinitely or dropped from consideration altogether.

The White House document’s phrasing—”justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest”—typically signals competing goals: responding to urgent suffering and advancing broader policy aims. But without detail about how those goals were weighed, or why white South Africans were chosen as the main group under the new cap, outside observers are left to parse short lines in the Federal Register. BBC News said:

“The Trump administration repeat claims … that white South Africans are facing genocide in their country.”
That claim has animated some U.S. political debate, but the administration’s notice did not attach data or findings to support it, nor did it explain how it assessed relative risk among global refugee populations.

Refugee case processing historically relies on UN referrals, U.S. embassy programs, and direct applications screened by multiple agencies. While the administration can set the overall ceiling and define priorities, those choices often ripple through an intricate system that involves lengthy security checks and overseas interviews. With a refugee admission cap of 7,500 and an announced emphasis on white South Africans, resettlement officers and partner organizations will likely pivot resources accordingly, potentially sidelining cases from other regions. Advocates quoted by the BBC warn that

“they’re essentially not allowed to come as refugees”
under the new approach, a blunt summary of how a narrow cap and a specific allocation can limit options for others.

The policy also breaks from recent practice of publishing categories that spread admissions across regions such as Africa, East Asia, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America, and the Near East and South Asia. The current notice, as described by the BBC, instead highlights a single nationality and racial group—white South Africans—as the recipient of the vast majority of slots. As a result, the lower overall ceiling of 7,500 has outsized consequences for people waiting in camps or urban shelters worldwide, from those who assisted U.S. forces in Afghanistan to families displaced by conflict in Syria, Sudan, or Myanmar, who now see the U.S. door narrowed.

The decision’s timing, coming just months after the January suspension, indicates the administration intends to carry its reorientation into the next fiscal year rather than treating the pause as temporary. It also raises operational questions that the notice did not answer, including how many interviews will be scheduled for South African cases, which processing posts will handle them, and whether existing caseloads from other countries will be delayed or canceled. Agencies that had ramped up under the 125,000 ceiling now face a compressed target and a redesigned intake.

Federal notices outlining refugee policy and allocations are public documents, typically accessible on the Federal Register, which publishes executive orders and agency rules. BBC News summarized the language in the new notice, quoting its emphasis on allocating the vast majority of the 7,500 places to white South Africans. The administration’s brief reasoning—”justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest”—offers little insight into how it weighed competing emergencies and how the altered priorities will affect people already approved or near approval for travel.

Advocates told the BBC that

“this is is very unfair to other persecuted minorities around the world,”
arguing that the shift undermines the global mission of U.S. resettlement. They say the United States has obligations to people who aided U.S. operations and to those fleeing documented persecution, and a refugee admission cap so low, combined with a narrow allocation, means
“they’re essentially not allowed to come as refugees.”
With the number now set at 7,500 for fiscal year 2026, attention turns to how the Department of State and partner agencies will implement the plan and whether any legal challenges or congressional oversight will press for changes.

For now, the policy stands as written: a numerical ceiling of 7,500 and a declared priority that the vast majority of those places will be given to white South Africans. As BBC News put it:

“In the document which was published on the website of the Federal Register, they said explicitly that of those 7,500 refugees, the vast majority would be white South Africans.”
The administration’s notice adds only that the move is “justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest,” leaving many of the people who expected refuge in the United States to wait longer, look elsewhere, or give up on resettlement altogether.