(UNITED STATES) — The United States has admitted 6,668 refugees since October 1, 2025, and 6,665 of them were white South Africans after President Trump’s administration prioritized admissions from South Africa this fiscal year.

The remaining 3 refugees were Afghans admitted in November. That makes any claim that all admitted refugees were South Africans inaccurate on its face, even as the admissions program has been overwhelmingly directed at South Africans.

A May 2026 State Department plan sent to Congress proposed lifting the fiscal-year 2026 refugee ceiling from 7,500 to 17,500. The proposal set aside the 10,000 added places for Afrikaners from South Africa and said admitting those extra refugees would cost about $100 million.

The push follows a White House order issued on February 7, 2025, titled “Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa,” which directed agencies to promote the resettlement of Afrikaners and other disfavored minorities in South Africa.

A State Department spokesperson described the administration’s rationale in explicit terms. “President Trump has been very clear that we are prioritizing the resettlement of Afrikaners in South Africa who are escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also said, “determinations on refugee admissions are up to the President.”

Those figures place South Africa at the center of a refugee system that, in this fiscal year, admitted very few people from anywhere else. Refugee admissions typically draw applicants from a range of countries and conflict zones, but the numbers recorded since October 1 show a program concentrated almost entirely on white South Africans, with the only other admissions limited to three Afghans in November.

The phrase white South Africans carries political weight in this case because the administration has framed the admissions as a response to race-based persecution. Its language has focused on Afrikaners from South Africa, a white ethnic minority descended largely from Dutch settlers, while the executive order also referred more broadly to “other disfavored minorities in South Africa.”

The administration’s own proposed ceiling for the year would deepen that concentration. Under the May plan, the refugee cap would more than double, but the added capacity would not be distributed across multiple regions or populations. It would be reserved for Afrikaners from South Africa.

The cost estimate attached to that proposal, about $100 million, tied a dollar figure to the expansion. The document did not present the increase as a general refugee buildout; it paired the higher ceiling with a dedicated allocation of 10,000 places for one group.

Eligibility rules published on the embassy’s South Africa refugee page set out who can apply. Applicants must be South African nationals, must be of Afrikaner ethnicity or a racial minority in South Africa, and must be able to describe past persecution or a fear of future persecution.

That standard links the South Africa program to the broader legal structure of refugee admissions, which turns on claims of persecution, while also narrowing the field through nationality and identity requirements. A person outside those categories would not qualify under the terms laid out for this program.

Trump’s February 7, 2025 executive order supplied the policy bridge between the White House’s criticism of South Africa and the refugee admissions now reflected in the federal data. By directing agencies to promote resettlement, the order moved beyond diplomatic language and into immigration processing.

The title of the order, “Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa,” framed the issue as a response to the conduct of the South African government. The State Department later used similar language in explaining why Afrikaners were being prioritized, saying they were escaping “government-sponsored race-based discrimination.”

The refugee counts show how sharply that policy has shaped admissions. Since the fiscal year began on October 1, 2025, the United States accepted 6,668 refugees in total. Of those, 6,665 were white South Africans.

Only 3 admissions fall outside that pattern, and all three were Afghans admitted in November. The narrow exception matters because it draws a line between a broad political claim and the actual record: not every refugee admitted this year came from South Africa, but almost all did.

That distinction has become part of the factual picture surrounding the administration’s refugee policy. A statement that all admitted refugees are South Africans misses those three Afghan admissions. A statement that the program has been directed overwhelmingly toward South Africans matches the numbers in the federal tally.

The administration’s proposed expansion indicates that the current pattern is not incidental. Raising the ceiling from 7,500 to 17,500 while reserving the additional 10,000 slots for Afrikaners from South Africa would formalize that focus for the rest of the fiscal year.

It would also place Afrikaners from South Africa at the center of refugee growth in 2026. The added capacity in the State Department plan was not presented as an open pool for refugees from multiple countries; it was earmarked.

White South Africans already account for nearly all admissions recorded since the fiscal year opened. The proposed ceiling change would extend that trajectory by creating space specifically for more applicants from the same population.

The eligibility criteria add another filter. To qualify, applicants must not only be South African nationals and either Afrikaners or members of another racial minority in South Africa, but also must describe past persecution or a fear of future persecution.

That requirement matters because the South Africa program is not framed as a general migration track. It remains a refugee pathway, and the administration has tied its public defense of the policy to persecution claims.

The White House and the State Department have used closely aligned language in doing so. One action came through the executive order directing agencies to promote resettlement of Afrikaners and other disfavored minorities; the other came through the State Department’s statement that the administration is prioritizing Afrikaners who are escaping “government-sponsored race-based discrimination.”

The spokesperson’s second statement placed the final authority with Trump. “determinations on refugee admissions are up to the President.”

Within this fiscal year’s admissions record, that presidential choice is visible in the numbers, the proposed ceiling, the reserved slots, the executive order, and the eligibility rules attached to the South Africa program. Together they describe a refugee system that, since October 1, 2025, has admitted 6,668 people, including 6,665 white South Africans and 3 Afghans, with a further 10,000 places proposed for Afrikaners from South Africa at a projected cost of about $100 million.