The Republican administration announced on Thursday a significant shift in its refugee policy, as detailed in a notice published in the Federal Registry. This update, made public early Friday AEDT, reveals a striking reduction in the number of refugees allowed into the United States compared to previous years.
The new cap marks a notable departure from the ceiling of 125,000 refugees set under former Democratic President Joe Biden. Surprisingly, the administration has not provided a specific explanation for these reduced numbers. However, a memo accompanying the notice indicates that admitting 7,500 refugees during the 2026 fiscal year is “justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.”
Reports from the Associated Press had earlier suggested that the administration was contemplating an intake of as few as 7,500 refugees, with a focus primarily on white South Africans. This decision reflects a significant change for a program that has historically benefited from bipartisan support.
Since taking office, former President Trump suspended the refugee program, leading to a drastic decrease in the number of entrants. As a result, the flow of refugees into the country has slowed to a trickle, predominantly consisting of white South Africans.
The slashed cap represents another blow for the long-standing program that until recently has enjoyed bipartisan support.
Trump suspended the program on his first day in office and since then only a trickle of refugees have entered the country, mostly white South Africans.
Some refugees have also been admitted as part of a court case seeking to allow entry to refugees who were overseas and in the process of coming to the US when the program was suspended.
The administration announced the program for the Afrikaners in February, saying that white South African farmers face discrimination and violence at home. The country’s government strongly denies this characterisation.
Across the country, groups that work to help resettle newly arrived refugees into the country have had to lay off staff as the number of people arriving under the longstanding program plummeted.
