In a strange turn, Donald Trump’s refugee plan proposes a monthly intake far exceeding his own limits

The United States is gearing up to process a whopping 4,500 refugee applications from white South Africans every month, a target that absolutely dwarfs President Trump’s overall global refugee cap. The administration is so committed to meeting this goal that they have even been installing trailers on embassy property in Pretoria to support the effort.

According to Reuters, this new monthly target, detailed in a previously unreported U.S. State Department document, signals an increase in admissions specifically from South Africa. As compared to the severe curtailment of refugee applications from most other regions globally. Trump has stated the U.S. would only admit a total of 7,500 refugees from around the world in 2026, even though internal recommendation limits were 40,000 to 60,000. 

Trump initially ordered a halt to all refugee admissions into the U.S. in January 2025. However, just weeks later, he launched this specific effort to bring in white South Africans of Afrikaner ethnicity, claiming they faced violent persecution in their majority-Black country. South Africa’s government has vehemently rejected this claim, calling it “fundamentally unsubstantiated.” 

I don’t know why I am surprised that Trump made something up

The contracting document explains the rationale for awarding the contract for the trailers without a competitive bidding process, stressing an urgent need for a secure site. Apparently, an immigration raid by South African authorities on a previous U.S. refugee processing site on commercial property in Johannesburg had “compromised” operations, forcing the government to find a more secure location. 

The document explicitly stated that the inability to safely process about 4,500 applicants per month “would result in failure to meet a Presidential priority” communicated from the White House. To facilitate the ramp-up, a South African company received a no-bid $772,000 contract to supply and install 14 prefabricated modular buildings, creating a “temporary modular village” on an embassy property in Pretoria. 

Despite the ambitious target, the program has faced administrative hurdles. As of January 31, only 2,000 white South Africans had entered the U.S. as refugees under the program, which officially launched in May 2025. There have also been other delays. All refugee travel to the U.S., including for white South Africans, was halted from February 23 to March 9 due to “operational factors,” according to an email sent to applicants. 

An official familiar with internal operations noted that the Department of Homeland Security has delayed approvals, creating an administrative backlog. Because of President Trump’s sweeping refugee ban, each South African applicant must be admitted as an exception on a case-by-case basis by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

What is interesting to me is the administration’s stand of needing to save the refugees from persecution, when they have deported people of color, despite proof or statements that they would be in danger. They have been so vehemently against refugees that they have made some concerning legislative decisions. It makes me feel like this “Presidential priority” exists because of skin color.