The Trump administration is prioritizing a group of white South African Afrikaners for refugee status in the US, despite a broader halt on refugee admissions.
The administration's decision to prioritize Afrikaners is a significant departure from established refugee resettlement practices and has drawn criticism for its perceived bias.
The Trump administration is planning to bring the first group of white South Africans it has classified as refugees to the United States on Monday, according to officials briefed on the plans and documents obtained by The New York Times.
Although the president halted virtually all other refugee admissions shortly after he took office in January, his administration hastily put together a program to allow in white South Africans, who he claims have been the victims of racial persecution in their home country.
The administration plans to send government officials to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia for an event marking the arrival of the South Africans, who belong to the white minority Afrikaner ethnic group, according to a memo from the Department of Health and Human Services.
A top State Department official told South African officials on Friday that the United States planned to transport 54 Afrikaners to the United States on a charter flight scheduled to leave Johannesburg on Sunday, according to a person briefed on the call, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of the private conversation.
The arrival of the Afrikaners would cement Mr. Trump’s efforts to upend a program that for decades has allowed thousands of people fleeing war, famine and natural disaster to find safe haven in the United States.
While the program remains suspended for refugees across the world, such as Congolese families in refugee camps and Rohingya seeking safety, white South Africans were processed much faster than is normal for these cases.
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