According to the flight tracking website, the first plane to acquire refugee status from the Trump administration landed at Washington Dulles International Airport on Monday morning.
The arrival marks a dramatic reversal in US refugee policy, and has long focused on supporting those fleeing war, hunger and massacre. President Trump essentially suspended all refugee hospitalization programs on his first day in office before making a path for Africans, a white minority who ruled during South Africa's apartheid, in order to resettle the United States.
A group arriving Monday at the US-funded Omni Air International Charter Flight says they are discriminated against, denying employment opportunities and being the subject of violence because of their race. A spokesman for South African airport authorities said 49 Africans boarded the flight on Sunday after more than 8,000 people expressed interest in the programme. There are very few details about individuals who have arrived in the US.
South Africans who arrived in the US on Monday were subject to rapid processing by the Trump administration. Refugees resettle in the country before the first Trump administration took an average of 18 to 24 months, according to the American Council on Immigration, an immigration advocacy group.
Trump said Monday that the US is expanding its citizenship to these individuals, and he said he is a victim of genocide.
“The farmers are being killed,” he told reporters. “They happen to be white. Whether they are white or black, it's no different to me. White farmers are brutally killed, and land is confiscated in South Africa.”
Police data do not support the story of mass murder. Police say 225 people died on a South African farm between April 2020 and March 2024. However, most of the victims (101) were current or former workers living on farms that were mostly black. The 53 victims were farmers, usually white.
The refugee program exacerbated tensions between the US and South Africa. The government has rejected the Trump administration's claim that Africans qualify for refugee status.
“It is most unfortunate that South Africans, pose as “refugees,” are designed to be completely politically motivated by resettlement in the United States and question South Africa's constitutional democracy,” said Crispin Philli, a spokesman for the South African Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement.
Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff at White House who oversaw the administration's immigration policy, said the situation in South Africa “conforms to the textbook definition of why the refugee program was created.”
“This is persecution based on protected characteristics. In this case, in race,” he said. “This is race-based persecution.”
In February, Trump signed executives to suspend all foreign aid to South Africa, and announced that his administration would work to resettle “African refugees” for the actions of the South African government's “racially favored landowners.”
Trump was referring to a law known as expropriation law. This allows the government to acquire private land in public interest, in some cases without paying compensation. However, that step can only be carried out after the justification process that is subject to judicial review.
South Africa's Foreign Minister Ronald Lamora likened the law to prominent territory in the United States. Analysts say the law has many checks and balances to prevent abuse. According to analysts, the most likely application is to take unused land.
The Trump administration also criticized the South African government for Israel's criticism of the war in Gaza and its close ties with Iran. South Africa has filed a genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice.
Hamed Areaziz and Aishvalia Kavi Reports of contributions.
