The Trump administration offered refugee status to 49 white South Africans, including families and children, who departed their homeland on May 11 to the US on a private charter plane.
This came after US President Donald Trump’s new program that was announced in February for Afrikaners – a white minority group in South Africa – for them to seek refuge in the US.
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They made it to the US
The group arrived near Washington DC on Monday, May 12, at Dulles International Airport, where they were greeted by US authorities.
49 were expected but actually, 59 arrived, with children carrying and waving the US flag.
Why Trump had them over
Trump issued an executive order in February where he accused South Africa’s government of “racial discrimination” against Afrikaners.
In addition, he announced a program to offer them relocation to the US, and normally, this process would take months — or even years — but Trump sped up the process for them.
People are far from pleased
The South African government said that the claims of them discriminating against Afrikaners are “completely false.”
Furthermore, Trump put a pause on other refugee programs, such as Afghanistan’s, Iraq’s, most of sub-Saharan Africa’s, and those of other countries. These actions are being addressed in court.
Why Trump sped up their process
Trump explained that a “genocide” was taking place over there and that “white farmers” in particular were being targets of discrimination.
“Farmers are being killed, they happen to be white, but whether they’re white or black makes no difference to me,” the president said, as reported by the BBC.
The South African president totally disagrees
“A refugee is someone who has to leave their country out of fear of political persecution, religious persecution, or economic persecution, and they don’t fit that bill,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa explained, dismissing Trump’s claims.
Elon Musk had the same point of view as Trump
The South African-born Musk previously stated that there was a “genocide of white people” in South Africa. Moreover, he accused the South African government of passing “racist ownership laws.”
However, the claims of genocide of white people in South Africa have been discredited by many, including Senator Jeanne Shaheen among many others.