People from the first group of white South Africans granted refugee status for being deemed victims of racial discrimination under U.S. President Trump's Refugee plan, listen to welcoming remarks during a meet and greet event, at Dulles International Airport, in Dulles, Virginia, U.S., May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
A top State Department official has revealed that a key program to help people from South Africa is meant for white people.
Reuters confirmed Friday that President Donald Trump's February executive order to help "Afrikaners" in South Africa experiencing "racial discrimination" is not available for people of color. The group is primarily made up of descendants of Dutch colonizers.
According to the report, Embassy Charge d’Affairs David Greene, at the U.S. embassy in South Africa, asked those back in Washington to clarify who qualified for the refugee program that Trump created.
Some of those refugees may meet other requirements but are "coloured" people who speak Afrikaans, for example. "Coloured" in South Africa means anyone of mixed race. It was a classification created during the apartheid era, but it remains in use today.
Spencer Chretien, who Reuters explained "serves as the highest-ranking official in the State Department's refugee and migration bureau," clarified that it was a whites-only program.
Reuters said he wasn't able to confirm the exact language, but the State Department claimed the policy would consider "Afrikaners and other racial minorities for resettlement." The guidance on its website in May said applicants "must be of Afrikaner ethnicity or be a member of a racial minority in South Africa."
No one at the State Department would respond to Reuters with a comment, but the report said the matter has caused a lot of confusion about how to implement a policy when the country is so racially diverse.
There were 59 white South Africans who arrived in the United States in May. By the end of August, another 15 are expected.