Trump's Refugee Program Is Reserved for Whites Only
5/20/202616 min
This week, the President announced a proposed expansion of the America's refugee program - from 7,500 admissions to 17,500. But there's a caveat: those extra 10,000 spots are reserved for white South Africans. Last May, when the first round of Afrikaners arrived in the States, OTM host Micah Loewinger spoke to Carolyn Holmes, professor of political science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, about why Afrikaner white rights groups objected to the refugee policy, and the long-standing exchange of ideas between white nationalist elites in the US and South Africa.
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First 90 secondsMicah Loewinger· Host0:00
Hey, you're listening to the On The Media midweek podcast. I'm Micah Loewinger. On Monday, President Trump announced a proposed expansion to the refugee program to allow 10,000 more people into the country, up from a record low of 7,500 refugee admissions. For context, before 2017, the average annual cap for Republican and Democratic administrations was 95,000. But there's a caveat here. Trump's new 10,000 refugees will consist solely of Afrikaners, white South Africans, a group that the Trump administration claims faces racial persecution in their home country. We reported on this story exactly a year ago when the first round of Afrikaners were on their way to these shores.
Speaker 20:46
The first group of white South Africans granted refugee status by the Trump administration arrived in the US Monday. The group included 49 Afrikaners, which is an ethnic group in South Africa made up of descendants of European colonists.
Christopher Landau· Soundbite0:59
The United States really rejects the egregious persecution of people on the basis of race in South Africa, and we welcome these people to the United States.
Micah Loewinger· Host1:13
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau last May answering a question from the BBC about why Afrikaners, and not people from, say, war zones, had been granted refugee status.
Christopher Landau· Soundbite1:25
The criteria are making sure that refugees did not pose