Trump Admin Slashes Refugee Cap, Prioritizes Afrikaners As ‘Victims Of Unjust Discrimination’
The Trump administration on Thursday announced a sharp reduction in the number of refugees it will admit into the country next year.
The refugee cap for fiscal year 2026 will be set at 7,500 with priority given to Afrikaners — a predominantly white minority group in South Africa — and “other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands,” according to a notice published in the Federal Register. By comparison, the U.S. admitted more than 100,000 refugees under former President Joe Biden in fiscal year 2024 — the highest figure since 1994 — according to the Migration Policy Institute. . .
A senior Trump official told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the administration “has long expressed its intention to end Biden’s abuse of the refugee program,” and noted that the ongoing government shutdown will affect refugee admissions.
“No refugees will be admitted in FY26 until the appropriate consultations with Congress are held, which are being delayed because certain members of Congress insisted on shutting down the government,” the official said.
The move reflects President Donald Trump’s broader effort to tighten asylum standards and “realign” U.S. policy, and for the first time focusing on a predominantly white minority facing persecution abroad. (Read more from “Trump Admin Slashes Refugee Cap, Prioritizes Afrikaners As ‘Victims Of Unjust Discrimination’” HERE)
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr
